New Releases

SPR’s book reviews of new self-published books

Mindful Dementia Care by Ruth Dennis with Velma Arellano and Luke Nachtrab

Mindful Dementia Care by Ruth DennisMindful Dementia Care: Lost and Found in the Alzheimer’s Forest by Ruth Dennis with Velma Arellano and Luke Nachtrab is an informative guide for caregivers outlining the difficulties of caring for an Alzheimer’s patient, as well as effective alternative methods of therapy.

The author and her two supportive co-authors are connected with the Sierra Vista Alzheimer’s Community in New Mexico. Dennis has care responsibilities for a brother with Down Syndrome, so her wish to share knowledge about the diseases and complex problems of aging is intensely personal, and it is this personal perspective that makes this such a strong guide.[…]

2019-04-25T11:54:21+02:00March 5th, 2019|Categories: New Releases|Tags: |

The Missing Spirit by P.J. Maia

The Missing Spirit by P.J. MaiaSet in a prehistoric, paradisiacal world of adolescent gods and nebulous powers, The Missing Spirit is a remarkably detailed and unpredictable fantasy novel by P.J. Maia.

At the center of this story is Keana, a young woman who has spent most of her life eagerly awaiting her entrance to divinity – her reawakening as a god. Before her powers can fully be developed, however, this mystical realm is disrupted by external forces, and in the form of new, dangerous ideas. Aided by her adopted parents and her closest companions, Keana must leave the only home she has known, with magical […]

2019-03-11T09:39:22+02:00March 3rd, 2019|Categories: New Releases|Tags: |

The Burning by Devin K. Asante

The Burning by Devin K. AsanteA fanatical obsession leads to deadly consequences in The Burning, Devin K. Asante’s chilling work of historical fiction.

The year is 1666. Sixteen-year-old, Agnes Wilmore, has lost her three younger siblings to the plague before arriving in London, hoping to make a new life for herself. Almost as soon as she arrives, she’s raped by Robert Hubert, a tavern barkeep, who’s immediately infatuated with her. She’s rescued by Thomas Farrier and his wife, who hire her as their live-in caretaker for their three young children.

Agnes fervently hopes she’s seen the last of Robert but with each passing day, […]

2019-02-18T10:57:17+02:00February 17th, 2019|Categories: New Releases|Tags: , |

The Beginner’s Guide to Winning an Election by Michael R. French

The Beginner's Guide to Winning an Election by Michael R. FrenchThe Beginner’s Guide to Winning an Election by Michael R. French is a biting and prescient YA satire about big money influencing a local high school election.

It’s 2025 at a typical American high school, Hawthorn High, 120 miles from Bloomington, Indiana. Senior “Science Brain” Britain Kitridge signs up to volunteer for a fellow student’s campaign, and yes, maybe she has a little crush on him, but who doesn’t? Matthew Boltanski is near perfect: athletic, handsome, self-confident, impervious, and as Britain determines, very well funded, but by who and why? She starts asking too many questions and is ‘disciplined’ in […]

2019-02-14T10:36:30+02:00February 13th, 2019|Categories: New Releases|Tags: |

Finding Myself in Borneo: Sojourns in Sabah by Neill McKee

Finding Myself in Borneo: Sojourns in Sabah by Neill McKeeA former volunteer for CUSO (Canadian University Service Overseas) recalls those halcyon years living and working in Sabah, Borneo in the entertaining travel memoir Finding Myself in Borneo: Sojourns in Sabah.

Author Neill McKee vividly describes his escalating culture shock as he encounters “the East” in its many aspects: sights, smells and, notably, sweltering temperatures. In the sleepy village of Kota Belud, he learns Malay and teaches various subjects in English to students barely fluent in that language, often with no textbooks. Humorously imagining exotic Borneo as the model for Tolkien’s Middle Earth, he and his friends found the […]

2019-02-13T10:36:52+02:00February 12th, 2019|Categories: New Releases|Tags: , |

Breast Cancer Meets Mindfulness by Cheryl Wilfong

Breast Cancer Meets Mindfulness by Cheryl WilfongWhen writer, gardener, and Buddhist practitioner Cheryl Wilfong was diagnosed with breast cancer, she wouldn’t “fight” her illness, as so many urged her to do. She would experience it, “not wishing for anything different than what Life was delivering.” This is the inspiring message in her unique and poignant health guide, Breast Cancer Meets Mindfulness: Surrendering to Life.

Wilfong’s chronicle moves gently through her thought processes as she deals with the diagnosis. A dedicated Buddhist and meditation teacher, she believes that death, disease, and dying are messengers alerting us to find ourselves. After a successful surgery and radiation, and […]

2019-02-12T13:43:18+02:00February 12th, 2019|Categories: New Releases|Tags: , |

Tropical Doubts by David Myles Robinson

Tropical Doubts by David Myles Robinson

In Tropical Doubts, the third legal thrill ride from author David Myles Robinson, the lovable Pancho McMartin is back in the courtroom, and back at the heart of a tangled murder mystery.

When old friends come begging him for legal help, it’s hard for this down-on-his-luck lawyer to refuse, but this case of medical malpractice is anything but normal. As the body count begins to rise and lies become muddied with truth, this unlikely hero will have to do his own investigating to discover where the guilt should lie. With a well-balanced plot and plenty of moving parts, this […]

2019-02-11T12:10:05+02:00February 10th, 2019|Categories: New Releases|Tags: , , |

The Request for Lambency by ileso DMC

The Request for Lambency by ileso DMC

Although there are many different belief structures surrounding religion in the world, one underlying theme remains quite constant: “You can’t take it with you.” However, what if some greater power suddenly changed that rule? In The Request for Lambency, a visionary new YA novel by ileso Dmc, readers are whisked off to a near future where people can, in fact, take one thing into the afterlife with them.

This development obviously creates a mania all across the globe, a craze that feels all too possible in this age of viral desperation to make it big, and the modern propensity […]

2019-02-11T12:11:16+02:00February 10th, 2019|Categories: New Releases|Tags: , |
Go to Top