Lead Story | Self-Publishing Review

Review: The Delivery Man by Sebastien Taveau

Bolstered by the experience of decades working in the heart of Silicon Valley, The Delivery Man: The Art of Turning Ideas into Products in Silicon Valley by Sebastien Taveau is an accessible and revelatory glimpse into top-shelf innovation and personal achievement.

Most people can rattle off half a dozen major tech CEOs, but the critical product designers and dreamers behind those success stories are normally hidden from view. As the delivery man – the person trusted to deliver “dreams come true” – Taveau goes deep into the tangled weeds of product development. Though this memoir and manual is inspired and […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2023-01-24T14:14:02+02:00January 16th, 2023|Categories: Book Reviews, Lead Story|Tags: Business Book Reviews, Memoir Book Reviews|

Review: A Plan to Save the Planet by Glenn Weinreb

A scathing rebuke of incrementalism in the face of an undeniable climate crisis, A Plan to Save the Planet: How to resolve climate change at the lowest cost and in a way that is politically feasible by Glenn Weinreb is a well-penned thesis that makes a concerted attempt to redirect the future.

Weinreb made millions of dollars as a product designer for laboratory and factory technology, and had a revelation about his potentially destructive place in the world, giving the book an implicit level of authority from the start. Following his personal background is a comprehensive assessment of our present […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2023-01-13T13:10:10+02:00January 13th, 2023|Categories: Book Reviews, Lead Story|Tags: Environment, Science Book Reviews|

Review: The Hell Bound Kids by Manson, Anthony Perconti, Sebastian Vice, & Joe Haward

Co-Authors Manson, Anthony Perconti, Sebastian Vice, and Joe Haward unveil an ominous dystopian world in their novel, The Hell Bound Kids: Wild in the Streets, the first in a longer anarcho-dystopian series.

Populated with childish but street-hardened characters like Ghost, Corpse, Pusho, Mimic and more, this is the story of rugged survival in the face of overwhelming oppression and persecution at the center of Punk City. A once civil society has collapsed into a Kid-filled wasteland of looting, murder, and depravity, with authorities stoking the fires of conflict to keep the gangs at each other’s throats, while the puppetmasters rest […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2023-01-16T15:47:41+02:00December 14th, 2022|Categories: Book Reviews, Lead Story|Tags: Dystopian Fiction Book Reviews|

Review: How to Stop Thinking And Not Get Eaten by a Bear by Dogu Densei, PhD

Author Dogu Densei, PhD shatters the stuffy traditions of academic texts with How to Stop Thinking And Not Get Eaten by a Bear: The New Cognitive Behavioral Mind Training. A deep dive into the realities and mysteries of the human mind, from out-of-body experiences and OCD to meditation, psychiatric disorders, and daily mindfulness, this tome is both whimsical and wise.

Broken up into three main sections, the book broadly focuses on turning off your mind, learning how to control and manage your thoughts, and then exploring how to escape the natural boundaries of consciousness. As the title implies, the […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2022-11-30T14:20:39+02:00November 29th, 2022|Categories: Book Reviews, Lead Story|Tags: Psychology Book Reviews, Self-Help Book Reviews|

Review: Temberlain’s Ashes (Age of Axion Book 2) by D.M. Wozniak

A bold and breathtaking piece of sci-fi imagination, Temberlain’s Ashes by D.M. Wozniak is a fantastic second installment of the Age of Axion series.

The adventure of Dem, Blythe, Chireseal, and Chimeline is far from over, as they seek to eliminate the cruel practice of voidance across the land. Through their practice of eleutheria, they can free the trapped souls enslaved by dark arcane arts, but convincing people to give up power is no easy feat.

The legacy of magical oppression and unchecked power lingers, particularly in a scarred realm trying to rebuild after the bloody war and the defeat […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2022-11-28T12:52:34+02:00November 25th, 2022|Categories: Book Reviews, Lead Story|Tags: Science Fiction Book Reviews|

Review: Soldier to Sojourner by Gordon Schwerzmann

Soldier to Sojourner: The Journal – Traveling on the 1970s Asian Hippie Trails is a compelling personal and historical travelogue of Gordon Schwerzmann’s time in the military and as a tourist in Asia.

Beginning with his stint as an Army officer in Korea in 1970 and continuing through civilian trips to Japan, Nationalist China, Hong Kong, Macau, the Philippines, and Burma, the book is a wild and varied trip through exotic locales. Schwerzmann, a photojournalist and travel writer, documents his experiences through detailed descriptions, historical discourse and extrapolated musings, recollections of people he met, and a wide range of photographs […]

SPR2023-03-20T16:58:22+02:00November 22nd, 2022|Categories: Book Reviews, Lead Story|Tags: Memoir Book Reviews, Travel Book Reviews|

Review: The Noble Exiles (Ocean Black Book 1) by E.J. Wedge

Author E.J. Wedge plunges readers into the dark and unknown ocean of the future with his first novel, The Noble Exiles, the first installment of the Ocean Black series, a sprawling and visionary sci-fi debut.

Unknown centuries in the future, with Earth long ago abandoned, the scattered seeds of humanity have spread to dozens of other stars and planets across the galaxy. However, the details of how the interstellar Nation was finally united, and how the Forging War saved our species, may not be the true origin story of cosmic peace.

The tale is told largely from the perspective […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2022-11-28T11:22:48+02:00November 14th, 2022|Categories: Book Reviews, Lead Story|Tags: Science Fiction Book Reviews|

Review: Derelict by Tracy Grogan

Author Tracy Grogan plunges readers into mysterious new depths with Derelict, the second book in the Divemaster Ricky Mystery series.

After taking a job as a dive instructor in Egypt, it doesn’t take long for the unshakeable Ricky Yamamoto to be caught up in another maritime mystery, when her job prospects literally blow up in her face. On top of that, the local authorities are far too occupied with civil unrest to properly investigate the disappearance of a fellow diver on her team. Unable to shake the feeling that her life has once again stumbled into something sinister, Ricky […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2022-11-10T12:45:40+02:00November 10th, 2022|Categories: Book Reviews, Lead Story|Tags: Thriller Book Reviews|