SPR’s book reviews of new self-published books
Summer Girl by Linda Watkins
Summer Girl by Linda Watkins is a poignant coming of age novel that asks whether it’s possible to forget one’s first love.
It’s the summer of sixty-five and sixteen-year-old islander Jake Chambers meets the ferry bringing the newest crop of summer people to Cutter Island. Fifteen-year-old Andrea (Andi) Martin is unlike the other summer girls and immediately captures Jake’s attention. Over the Fourth of July lobster bake, they become fast friends and soon their friendship blossoms into first love. It seems like they’re destined to be together – until one fateful night, a lapse in better judgment leads to tragic […]
Searching for My Heart: Essays About Love by Dawn Downey is filled with beautiful and personal stories of the different types of love one can encounter in the world, as well as the fight with one’s self to find that place we can call “home.” Following the author on her journey from adolescence to adulthood feels in a way like reading her diary, an intensely personal and honest examination of one person’s journey through life.
Wisdom from the Dojo and Other Tales by Soke Larry Barr 10 Dan is an inspirational work of self-help using martial arts as a basis.
How to Be: A Guide to Spiritual Development by Tõnn Sarv is a contemplative exploration of life’s truths and how to use them, by someone who has given the matter much intensive thought.
The literary fascination with apocalyptic novels shows no sign of slowing, and Bruce W. Perry offers another darkly rich angle with To the North, a heart-wrenching story of loss and hopelessness following a devastating super volcano eruption.