SPR’s book reviews of new self-published books
Athena’s Owl by Robert Woolston
From Napoleon to Thoreau to Edward Snowden to Hollywood, Robert Woolston’s essay collection, Athena’s Owl: Philosophy Articles on Personal Growth, Modern Society & Hollywood Cinema, provides an intelligent and well-observed study of humanist philosophies in their earliest forms, and their transposition into modern culture.
Each of these short essays covers some aspect of morality as originally conceived, and as later enacted in film or current world affairs. The three main sections demonstrate how the ethics of such systems as Stoicism, Pragmatism, and Transcendentalism can impinge on our lives and permeate even the realm of entertainment.
The harsh upbringing and […]
Told in a series of diary entries, Diary of a Dead Dreamer by N.C. Cummings takes us into a world of dreams, obsession, suspense, and murder.
The Lake, the second installment in Amanda McKinney’s Berry Springs series, is a small town murder mystery at heart, seasoned with a side of romance and cyber-espionage. The novel follows FBI agent Ethan Veech, who is ostensibly on “vacation” in a small southern town, and white collar criminal Jolene Reeves, a bad girl with a heart of gold.
Darren is surprised to discover that he somehow volunteered to become the caretaker for his vegetative cousin. He’s even more surprised to find an alien hiding behind his computer. When the alien possesses his brain-dead cousin and demands that his head be put in a microwave, things get weird. When the alien demands rhodium to eat, things get complicated.
A Lover in the Land of Hell by Jennie Haiman begins on an appropriate upbeat note – “Welcome, Newborn” – and continues with an exploration of high-minded themes.
Composed with victims of emotional abuse in mind, My Little Heart, Ruthie encourages and inspires with poetry and drawings. Toni Jannotta, actress and dancer, now branches out to write children’s books, in this case using limericks as her poetic medium.
Combining a father’s love for his Autistic son and the dangerous world of human trafficking, True Mercy by Idelle Kursman draws you in immediately, making it hard to stop reading.
Told through the eyes of Kamera, Ansel, and Soul: Get Lost in Heaven…(Don’t) puts a unique twist on the concept of paradise and the human condition. A cross between sci-fi and philosophy, it takes readers on a journey of imagination, self-realization, and questioning, that leaves them wondering if there is more out there than we can see with our eyes.