SPR’s book reviews of new self-published books
Nothando’s Journey by Jill Apperson Manly, Illustrations by Alyssa Casey
Nothando’s Journey is an exquisite children’s book about Nothando, who lives in Swaziland in Southern Africa. Nothando is getting ready for the Reed Festival, a right of passage of dancing and celebration in front of the King and Queen, and she’s worried about the performance and new responsibility. As she travels through the hills with her brother, she learns contentment and courage from all the wild animals, which prepares her to perform in the festival. Nothando’s Journey is a culturally-rich and artistically-mesmerizing story that kids will most certainly want to return to again and again.
While Nothando’s story is an […]
“Barcelona is the city of colors.” So begins Alexandru Ciobanu’s photographic travel guide, which certainly lives up to that first declaration. In vibrant color photography, Ciabanu covers the gamut in the city of Barcelona, from major attractions to hidden corners. Additionally, it’s a well-detailed travel guide, outlining the history behind each one of his pictures, in prose that’s both concise and informative.
Teachings on Being: The Holy Book of Religious Leaders, Followers, and Non-Believers by Codrin Stefan Tapu is a collection of aphorisms about what Tapu calls “The New Faith.”
Carousel and Other Stories by Carla Maria Verdino-Süllwold is a lyrical collection of stories about the small poetic moments in a marriage. Whether it’s a couple rekindling their passion on vacation, couples facing the daunting prospect of the draft, it’s a collection about fears and dreams unfulfilled, but each finding contentment among the difficulty. Verdino-Süllwold’s prose is eloquent and thoughtful. She has clear affection for her characters and sympathy for their troubles, which only evokes the same feeling in the reader.
Choosing Differently: A Memoir of a Software Entrepreneur’s Wife is the candid story of a divorce. It’s also a story of an internet startup, which ultimately failed, so the story is about heartache and poor decisions on two fronts. Choosing Differently is at once sober and heartfelt, as Joseph tackles the problems in her life with a deepening sense of self-respect and adventure, while giving an interesting front-row seat to the competitive, and oft-times disappointing, world of software development.
Odes on Ali by David Bates is a poetic account of the life and times of Muhammad Ali. Covering each one of Ali’s fights in rhyming verse, it’s a backstage pass beyond a traditional biography that covers all the blood, sweat and tears of Ali’s life.
The Real Matrix by Michael Evans is not about a technological Matrix, in which we’re caught in a computer simulation. However, we’re caught in a simulation all the same: one that’s built by upbringing, societal pressure, the media, and more that not only inform how we think, but lock us into a particular mindset. The Real Matrix lays out all the ways we’re conditioned and aims to break those bonds.
The Widows Guild by Anna Castle is an engrossing historical mystery with an intriguing and dynamic protagonist: the one and only Francis Bacon – philosopher, scientist, statesman, and possible author of Shakespeare’s plays.