SPR’s book reviews of new self-published books
When Are You Leaving by Melissa Powell Gay
When Are You Leaving by Melissa Powell Gay is a twisted mystery of hometown and heartbreak.
Reeling from missing out on the job of a lifetime, Iris Lee takes an unexpected step in her career – going back home. With a father who can’t remember her birthday and a mother struggling to remember her own name, Iris had been well on her way to leaving the past behind her, but she is unexpectedly pulled back into the swirling, nostalgic mess of Mt. Pleasant, Virginia. With the sharp mind of a corporate shark and the tireless drive of a street-wise sleuth, […]
In Items May Have Shifted: How to Travel With Your Baby or Toddler, journalist NJS Kaye presents a “guerrilla guide” to traveling with young children based on copious experience and scholarly research.
In Doggy Drama by Andra Gillum, a fluffy white dog named Riley, adorably rendered by illustrator Andy Case, puts on a brave face while confronting an escalation of changes in her household.
When protagonist Jeffrey Porter’s father Randall suddenly goes missing, he moves his wife and children back to the family ranch in Santa Cruz to investigate. While searching the cellar, Porter uncovers a portal to the past where he meets the Kimbralls, the family who lived on the ranch in 1870. Porter and the Kimbrall patriarch Augustus embark on a mission to find Randall but the unpredictability of time travel and the portal itself make this a perilous pursuit. When they hear rumors that Randall is involved in labor disputes that have angered local farmers, they realize his life is in […]
It’s a new beginning for Mia O’Halloran, and in a sense a homecoming. After a long twenty years enduring the worst that London has to offer and a life of drugs and selling her virtues to make ends meet, a heady mix of nostalgia and fear is a cold shower for Mia as she returns to face up to her past, all in order to make a better future for herself. After all, home may be where the heart is, but it is also where some of her worst memories lay in wait, and the abusers that had made her […]
Despite their best efforts, why do good people find themselves in conflict so frequently?
The Path of Decisions follows The Path of Destiny in which Darius finds he has magic powers in a realm that forbids the use of magic. In the second book of the series, Darius is now first commander of the King’s Elite Army and is still coming to terms with his magical abilities, and he’s torn between following the King or his own path. Christine and Kelln are fighting battles of their own, and Kelln must warn Darius of the threat from an evil wizard. The decisions that they make will affect not only the Kingdom, but their relationships with […]
CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) is a tricky subject – what do corporations have to do to leverage social responsibility? How can a company act responsibly without affecting profits? This compilation of materials used for the study of sustainability for issues such as carbon emissions and climate concerns has been compiled by Murari from various sources to assist those looking for a more compact study guide. Murari took a Masters at Lewis and Clark College, and states that this book is inspired by text books from that course, although the exact course or Murari’s own expertise in the subject is not […]