PW Select January 2012

Plus:
wDanny Snow revisits

self-publishing service execs
wA violin maker invests
$1 million in three-volume
project
wTwo PW Select authors are
picked up by Amazon

A quarterly guide
to whats new in
self-publishing
Full reviews of
37 self-published
books
Listings for 193
new titles
January 2012
P U B L I S H E R S WE E K LY J A N U A R Y 2 , 2 0 1 2 24
WHEN AMAZON CALLS: TWO SELF -PUBLISHED AUTHORS REFLECT
Bv Di~xi P~1iici
Recentiy, two o the sei-pubiished tities reviewed in PW Selects inaugurai edition in Decem-
ber 2010 were picked up by the Amazon Incore pubiishing imprint. Both are memoirs.
Iaurei Saviiies Postmortem (which has been retitied Unraveling Anne) and 1im Andersons Tune
in Tokyo: The Gaijin Diaries. PW spoke with Saviiie and Anderson about their journeys rom
sei-pubiishing to Amazon Pubiishing, and iearned that their experiencesand reactions to
themwere remarkabiy simiiar.
Laurel Saville:
Unraveling
Self-Publishing
PW Selects review said Postmortem docu-
ments Saviiies] stormy reiationship
with her mother, gited artist and
designer Ann Iord, who
sociaiized with the iikes o
marion Brando and Ciaes
Oidenburg, but whose
schizophrenia, drinking,
and drug use ied to home-
iessness and a tragic end.
Saviiie began writing the
book whiie she was in the
m.I.A. program at Ben-
nington Coiiege, her men-
tor brought the inished
manuscript to the atten-
tion o his own agent.
Ater a coupie o years o
submitting it, though, Saviiie says,
1here was iots o praise but no takers,
or a variety o reasons that were vague
and undeined. One editor had it or a
year, then deciined.
Saviiies marketing background heiped
her understand the rejections. I knew
that other things aected it. Ior exam-
pie, at the time a iot o memoirs were
being exposed as rauduient, so some o
the pubiishers were skittish. And iater, I
wondered i it wouid have been better
received by a West Coast editor, because
the book was set in Ios Angeies.
When her agent had exhausted aii the
options, Saviiie decided to sei-pubiish,
using iUniverse in 2010. Iortunateiy, as
a corporate communications proes-
sionai, Saviiie, who resides in upstate
New \ork, understands sei-promotion,
branding, and presentation. I made sure
I purchased high-quaiity editing and
prooreading services, and hired a great
graphic designer in Ios Angeies. I hired
two dierent book pubii-
cists. one did the tradi-
tionai PR stu, and she
got some nice reviews, a
eature in the Aibany Sun-
day paper, magazines, and
some biogger interest. 1he
other pubiicist speciaiized
in sociai media, both tra-
ditionai and user-gener-
ated content
s i t e s . A n d
because I have a
ma r k e t i n g
background, I
made sure I had a very com-
prehensive Web site.
Another eiement o her
marketing strategy inciuded
submitting her book to the
December 2010 PW Select or
review. I thought it iooked
iike a great opportunity and a great bar-
gainand obviousiy it was a pretty good
investment. On )anuary ~, 2011, Saviiie
received an e-maii. It said, I saw your
book reviewed in PW Select and thought
Id downioad and read a chapter or two.
When I iooked up, it was our hours
iater: 1he sender was 1erry Goodman,
senior editor at the Amazon Incore
imprint.
1he Ios Angeies connection bore ruit.
Saviiie iater ound out that Goodman
grew up in Ios Angeies. In addition, the
LA Times Magazine recentiy commis-
sioned an adaptation o the book, which
appeared in its December ~ issue, Saviiie
reports that its editor praised the way she
captured an I.A. scene thats gone now.
Reieased on November 1 under the
new titie Unraveling Anne: A Memoir of
My Mothers Reckless Life and Tragic Death
(so retitied to avoid conusion with the
Patricia Cornweii titie Postmortem), Sav-
iiie says that the book received a new
cover, iight editing, and a ew changes to
the proiogue. Otherwise, she says, 1here
is no perceptibie dierence rom the
originai. Since the books
pubiication, Saviiie and her
book were twice mentioned in
New York Times articies about
Amazon Pubiishing.
I ound Amazon Incore to
be very proessionai. And I
ind them to be extremeiy
author-ocused, so much so
that other authors eyes pop
open when I teii them. Iven
my agent says I wouid not have
gotten this much support rom a tradi-
tionai pubiisher. 1heir attitude is, the
author aiways wins.
Saies igures were not avaiiabie at press
time, however, Saviiie noted that based
on Amazon saies rank on December
and 8, its doing phenomenaiiy weii. the
print version is =1 in the memoir/Iamiiy
s Chiidhood category, and =9 in the
S E L F - P U B L I S H I N G
WHEN AMAZON CALLS: TWO SELF -PUBLISHED AUTHORS REFLECT
WWW. P U B L I S H E R S WE E K LY. C O M 25
Kindle store in the Biographies & Mem-
oirs/Women category. She is hopeful
about holiday sales: Thats part of why
they put it on sale in November, and its
working. I see buyers mentioning that
theyve bought multiple copies as gifts.
For her next project, Saville says shes
working on a novel based on an incident
in Unraveling Anne, and her agent is try-
ing to place some essays. And, yes, shes
my original agent. Ive been with her
about eight years, and she was supportive
of my self-publishing. When I told her
about the Amazon Encore deal, I asked
her how much I owed her, and she said,
You owe me nothingI didnt get you
the contract. Shes not jealous or territo-
rial. I keep saying I hope I get a movie
dealnot for myself, but for her.
Savilles advice to self-published
authors: Make the best, best, best prod-
uct you can. That means getting it
edited, proofread, and a good cover
design. Badly produced booksfull of
typos and grammatical errorsbring
down the whole group. If you want
someone else to take your work seriously,
you have to take it seriously first.
Theres also a family connection that
helps erase any doubt about self-publish-
ing. My brother-in-law is the head of
the prints and rare books department at
Christies New York. He says the self-
published editions of well-known
authors books are highly sought after as
collectors items, because they were pro-
duced in such limited quantities. Right
after I ceased publishing Postmortem, I
saw it listed used on Amazon, as high as
$175, Saville reports, with a lengthy,
hearty laugh. So its such a horrible
thing that I self-published, right?
Tim Anderson:
Out of the Rut
Initially, Andersons manuscript for Tune
in Tokyo: The Gaijin Diaries was shopped
around by an agent. As Anderson recalls,
We got lots of nice responses, but wher-
ever we pitched, the marketing depart-
ments vetoed everything.
They couldnt decide how to
market it, or where it would go
on the shelf, etc. So after a few
years of pitching, my agent
said shed done all she could
do.
At the ti me, al though
Anderson had started writing
another book, he says, I had a
nagging feeling: I know theres a market
for this book. I work for a book packager
and when the topic of self-publishing
came up, my boss said, Do it! I went
with Amazon CreateSpace. I chose the
design myself, and had it proofread and
edited by an editor friend of mine.
Anderson published Tune in Tokyo in
June 2010. I sent it out and did get
reviewed a few times here and there, but
the book got no traction at all. I was try-
ing to get people to pay attentionand
then I saw the PW Select announcement.
In its review, PW Select described the
book: When Anderson decides his life in
North Carolina is in a rut, he chooses to
make a dramatic change and moves to
Japan to teach English, as he chronicles
in this hilarious, enlightening, and
insightful memoir. Anderson is tall,
white, and extremely gayall things
that distinguish him from the average
person in Japan.
But that wasnt all. PWs Adam Boretz
also contacted Anderson: He
said it was one of the best
reviews in the issue and
wanted to profile me. Boretzs
profile appeared in the same
issue, and the two pieces
resulted in a call, and a pub-
lishing offer, from Amazon
Encores Terry Goodman.
I knew that once I got in
PW there might be some interest, but I
didnt know it could happen so fast. Terry
asked, When do you want this book out?
I said, in time for Christmas, and it was
done. It came out on November 29
[2011].
Anderson describes working with
Amazon Encore as pretty incredible.
They have an incredible editorial and mar-
keting team. There was no developmen-
tal editing, just copyediting. They con-
sulted me about the new cover. My origi-
nal was much simpler because Im not a
designer and I did it myself. They took
my cover, reduced the character, and over-
laid the Japanese imperial flag over the
Tokyo skyline. Its very striking, and I
could imagine it leaping off the shelf to
grab peoples eyeballs. I get a lot of com-
pliments on the cover.
In its categories (Travel/Tokyo; Gay &
Lesbian /Travel; and Gay & Lesbian/Biog-
raphies & Memoirs), Anderson reports
that even after only a week in print, the
book has been #1 quite often in both the
print and Kindle versions. Im hoping
that people will buy it as gifts, especially
Japan fansthere are a lot of those. Thats
why I wanted it available at the end of
November.
Next, Anderson is writing another
memoir, which he calls a gay, diabetic,
New Wave memoir of adolescence in the
80s. As of now, he has no agent: I plan
on submitting my next manuscript to
Terry and hopefully
continuing my rela-
tionship with them.
My advice to other
self-published authors
is to take advantage of
whatever opportunities
you mi ght f i nd,
Anderson says. I had
hoped to get a larger
audience, but I wanted to find the audi-
ence myself. I almost didnt do the PW
Select thing because you had to pay. But I
kind of hit the jackpot when I did PW.
This has exceeded my expectations.
E-book Boom Boosts
Self-Publishers
Digital editions add to the
segments explosive growth
B D O. S
In the December 2010 inaugural issue of PW Select, the heads of
different self-publishing companies talked about the way e-books
were becoming a bigger part of their business. That trend acceler-
ated in 2011, helping to keep the number of titles produced at
the major e-book vendors soaring.
L
ulu.com now has more than
1.8 million titles and reports
that during 2011 the num-
ber of print book titles in its
catalogue grew 9%, while
the number of e-book titles rose by 22%.
Self-publishing today is providing more
flexibility and opportunities for content
owners of all kinds, says company
founder Bob Young. Lulu is helping
them better serve their customers with
tools to discover and purchase content no
matter the format or medium.
Lulu is not alone in reporting that
e-books are rapidly outpacing printed
books among writers who publish their
own work. Digital has had an enormous
impact in 2011 and will continue to
transform buying and reading habits,
says a spokesperson for Author Solutions.
In 2011, e-book unit sales at Author
Solutions grew over 425% from 2010,
and the company expects similar gains in
2012. By the end of 2011, Authors Solu-
tions will have more than 70,000 e-book
titles available on every reading device,
and by mid-year 2012, it expects to have
150,000 e-book titles in the market.
The combination of e-books and print
books is also driving growth at midsize
companies that cater to writers. Accord-
ing to Brent Sampson of Outskirts Press,
the company ended 2010 with approxi-
mately 6,700 titles listed on Amazon,
and in 2011 had more than 8,000 in a
combination of print and Kindle edi-
tions. Outskirts expects to cross 10,000
titles in 2012.
The trend toward more e-book releases,
both from mainstream publishers and
their self-publishing counterparts, is
changing where readers buy books and
how they read them, and self-publishing
services are taking advantage of these
new outlets.
Early in 2011 the popularity of the
iPad motivated Apple to stop selling
e-books in its App Store and to open the
iBookstore, where it can exercise more
control over e-book publishing by the
professional and hobbyist alike. Barnes &
Noble took a contrary approach in late
2010, announcing its PubIt! program,
a turnkey Web site that allows nearly
anyone to e-publish material using a no-
frills file conversion process. Upon com-
pletion, the material is sold at BN.com
for its Nook e-reading device. It now
claims more than two million titles
available. Lulu is using both outlets to
sell its e-book titles, reporting that it has
nearly 60,000 e-book titles in distribu-
tion across its retail channels including
the iBookstore and Nook Bookstore.
Amazon has been
driving the growth of
self-published e-books
through its Kindle Direct Publishing
program, which now offers nearly a mil-
lion titles to readers worldwide, includ-
ing recent openings in France, Germany,
Italy, and Spain. KDP has attracted self-
publishing authors in droves by paying
royalties up to 70% and making it rela-
tively easy for a writer to convert a man-
uscript in Word format to a legible Kin-
dle edition without paying fees. Cre-
ateSpace, Amazons POD print publish-
ing arm, offers its customers a more
polished file conversion service, from
PDF to Kindle format, starting at $59.
According to Amazon, 13 KDP
authors have sold more than 200,000
books, and 34 KDP authors have sold
more than 100,000 books. 2011 has
been an exceptional year for independent
publishing. Weve seen significant
growth, and more indie authors and pub-
lishers are seeing impressive success. The
fact that were seeing self-published
authors from CreateSpace and Kindle
Direct Publishing appear on bestsellers
lists is a clear sign of the success of this
channel, says Nader Kabbani, director
of independent publishing at Amazon.
Aside from the data provided by Ama-
zon about its KDP authors, few self-
publishing services disclose specific
numbers of print orders. But they did
cite dramatically higher percentages of
e-book sales in 2011 than in 2010, help-
ing to fuel a record year whether in terms
of new print releases, e-book sales, or
both.
It is truly the best time in history to
be an author, says Kevin Weiss, CEO of
Authors Solutions. Self-publishing and
digital technology have created more
opportunities for authors around the
globe than ever before.
Danny O. Snow formerly served as director of
communications and planning for 1stBooks
(now ASI) and as senior planning consultant
for Lulu. He currently publishes books at Cre-
ateSpace, Kindle Direct Publishing, and Lulu,
in addition to writing for PW and other news
media.
Big Bet for Good Cause
Vioiin maker invests more than ;1 miiiion
in unique project
Bv Iiici Axxi Wiiii~xs
Its sei-pubiishing on a grand scaie. It took 1om Wiider 10
years and a C;1.2 miiiion investment to pubiish The Conser-
vation, Restoration, and Repair of Stringed Instruments and Their
Bows. 1he three-voiume, 1,600-page bibie on the subject
seiis or ;1,~95, but so ar saies are going weii, says Wiider.
T
hats good news or the mon-
treai vioiin maker and shop
owner, who took out a second
mortgage on his house in
order to produce the books,
and the cause he is und-raising or, the
Internationai Pernambuco Conservation
Initiative. 1he heartwood o the Brazii-
ian pernambuco tree has been used or
250 years to make the inest bows or
stringed instruments, but now the tree is
a threatened species and IPCI is working
to save the trees. Wiider did a print run
o 1,500 copies o the books using the
printer Iriesens, and ater a partiai cost
recovery on the saie o the irst 500 cop-
ies, 50` o aii receipts rom saies wiii go
to IPCI, increasing to 100` once pro-
duction costs have aii been recovered.
Wiider says about a third o the books,
pubiished iast spring, have been soid. He
thinks heii get his house back, but it
was a big risk, he says. Im now more
than 50 years oid and Ive been inan-
ciaiiy independent since I was 1 and I
had to ask my mother to heip me out
with the printing.... I aii the books seii
in a timeiy manner, I shouid raise about
;400,000 or the IPCI and get aii my
investment back, but its oniy money. It
was the act o producing it, thats the
reason I did it.
Wiider says he sei-pubiished because
it was a und-raising
project. I we had to
go through a reguiar
pubiisher, we were
going to iose at ieast
hai the money i not
more, and secondiy, I
ki nd o doubt we
wouid have ound a
pubiisher because it
is such a speciaiized
topic, he says. I know
my peers, in terms o
the vioiin worid,...
and thats why I igured
I couid do a better job marketing
this than any pubiisher.... Its a smaii spe-
ciaiized worid. Pre-pubiication sub-
scriptions provided some assured saies.
Wiider did ind a copubiisher in
Archetype Pubiications in the U.K.
1hey are the worids oremost pubiishers
o books in Ingiish or conservation, or
restorers, or conservators in the museum
miiieu. 1hey were the perect partners,
says Wiider. What that did or us is give
us access to the institutionai market,
because i you are doing straight sei-
pubiishing, they are going to iook askance
at that, so this heiped iegitimize it.
Whiie Archetype is marketing the
book to the institutionai market, it was
Wiider and his pubiishing team o more
than 20 writers, transiators, editors, and
designers who created the books. 1he
book had its beginnings at a conerence
o the American Iederation o Vioiin and
Bow makers about 10 years ago. 1he
members had given miniiectures to each
other instead o inviting guest iecturers,
and an organizer produced a bookiet o
the iectures. When someone suggested
seiiing the bookiet as a und-raiser or
IPCI, oider members resisted, not want-
ing to pubiish trade secrets. 1his trade
is iike that. It was very, very secretive
untii quite recentiy,
says Wiider.
But the younger
me mbe r s , mys e i
inciuded, were very
much against this way
o thinking, and so I
deci ded to take i t
u p o n my s e i t o
approach other mem-
bers, whose ideas I
iiked, and do it on my
own, outside the aus-
pices o the edera-
ti on. As the i dea
deveioped, he put out
a caii or papers internationaiiy,
created a peer review process, and about
two years iater ended up with about 150
articies that ormed the backbone o the
books. But ater that, there was stiii a
iong road ahead. Wiider hired director o
pubiishing and executive editor Aureie
Parisian, ormeriy an editor at mcGiii-
Queens University Press to manage the
massive project.
1he inished product has been gratiy-
ing or Wiider, and the books have been
weii received in the music, conservation,
and design worids. The Conservation won
Canadas Aicuin Award or the best
design o a reerence work and best in
show, and took irst prize in the Coupe
Internationai Design + Image competi-
tion this year.
ART
Pistils and Poetry:
Elizabethan Poetry
a nd I ma ge s o f
Flowers.
Ro i ma r ge na u.
Irogworks Pubiish-
ing. ;18.95 paper (94p), ISBN 98-0-615-
46~-~
www.rogworks.com
Poems by Spenser, mariowe, Donne,
Shakespeare, and more are juxtaposed with
margenaus own photographs o iowers
to show the deiicacy o both poeticai and
botanicai orm.
AUTOBIOGRAPHY &
BIOGRAPHY
Baghdad ER: Fifteen Minutes.
1odd Baker, m.D. Gray Iox Pubiishing. ;15
paper (~2p), ISBN 98-0-58-06992-0
www.BaghdadIR.com
Dr. Baker spent 15 months as the chie
o emergency medicine at Ibn Sina hospi-
tai near Baghdad, treating oten severeiy
injured American miiitary personnei. In
this gripping account, the urgency o quick
and eective medicai intervention was a
matter o iie and death.
Lone Holdout: A Memoir.
Iinda Cox. Charies Street Press. ;15 paper
(266p), ISBN 98-0-984~~~-0-
Amazon
Cox, a bookseiier rom Boston, ound
hersei serving on a jury or a cocaine-
traicking triai. She was the ione hoidout
against conviction o a Hispanic man. Her
book has been a avorite o severai book
ciubs in New Ingiand.
Swept: Love with a Chance of Drowning.
1orre DeRoche. Gauguin media. ;16.95
paper (~20p), ISBN 98-0-615-52111-4
Amazon
A true story about how one giri con-
ronted her deepest ears about iove by
jumping aboard a ieaky saiiboat or the
adventure o a iietime.
Yesterdays Asylum:
Reflections of Lunacy.
).D. Donnie Iink. Vantage Press. ;24.95
hardcover (244p), ISBN 98-0-5~~-
16~8~-0
Amazon
Iink iooks back at his iie, beginning in
1959, when his amiiy moved to New Iast
Pines, md. In reiating taies o his riends
and adventures over the next 12 years, he
oers readers a iook back at simpier times.
The Pig & Me.
Iindsay Irucci. Square Hiii Pubiishing.
;14.99 paper (~20p), ISBN 98-0-615-
42822-2
Amazon
Irucci iaunched No Pudge:, a at-ree
udge brownie mix, rom her armhouse
kitchen and grew a muitimiiiion doiiar
business. Aiong the way she met a smart,
conident womanhersei.
Triumph and Tragedy:
The Life of Edward Whymper.
Imii Henry. 1roubador Pubiishing Itd.
U.K. ;19.95 paper (464p), ISBN 98-1-
8486-58-8
Amazon, BN.com
1h e b i o g r a p h y
o t he bes t - known
ciimber o the Victorian
eras Goiden Age o
mountaineering, who
made the irst ascent
o the matterhorn, in
1865.
S E L F - P U B L I S H E D L I S T I N G S
Highiights rom the oerings to be ound here,
our ith PW Select, include: (trumpet piease:) our irst titie to receive a starred
review, Audrey Iynns novei about a Russian soidier returning rom Aghani-
stan, an exciting medicai thriiier about iiiegai traicking in venomous snakes,
Vivian \angs ictionai memoir about a Chinese teenager set during WWII
and ater, an important work by two pioneers in autism research and treat-
ment, and many more that aitogether reiect the diversity o interests and
enthusiasms that ind voice through sei-pubiishing.
Quality & Diversity Among
The Self-Published
1ii + 1i1iis sinxi11ii ioi oii iii1i i~i1iiiv PW SELECT
Navigating the Course:
A Mans Place in His Time.
David Fanshel. Valley Meadow Press. $25
paper (254p), ISBN 978-0-9723269-6-4
Amazon
Fanshels life story, from his Bronx child-
hood in a Russian Jewish family through
the Great Depression and his experiences
as a navigator aboard a B-24 bomber flying
sorties over Nazi targets in WWII.
Youth to Golden Age.
Vera M. Kierstead-Farber with Robert Far-
ber. Vantage Press. $10.95 paper (46p),
ISBN 978-0-533-16420-2
Amazon
The author of a trilogy of early American
historical fiction relates her own love story.
After caring for her husband, who suffered
a stroke at 49, until his death, she meets the
man she had a friendship with 70 years ear-
lierand love is rekindled.
Sage Was the Perfect Shadow:
A Survivors Story.
Mona Krueger. CreateSpace. $11.99 paper
(122p), ISBN 978-1-4663-9361-5
Amazon
A memoir about identity reconstruction
for a girl recovering from a burn trauma.
1000:1 Odds:
Memoir of a World War II Childhood.
Peter Kubicek. CreateSpace. $12 paper
(89p), ISBN 978-1-4611-6971-0
Amazon
Nine years old at the beginning of
WWII, the author, now a docent at the
Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York
City, weathered the Holocaust in wartime
Slovakia, surviving six German concentra-
tion camps, two Slovakian camps, and a
hunger march just before liberation.
Poisoned by Pollu-
tion: An Unexpected
Spiritual Journey.
Anne Lipscomb. Author-
House. $16.98 paper
(192p), ISBN 978-1-
4389-6502-4
Amazon; (888) 519-
5121
In this inspiring memoir, Lipscomb
reveals her secrets for overcoming adversity
after being forced to live mostly house-
bound for 18 years after exposure to toxic
chemicals in the workplace.
The Boy from Bothell:
Bipolar Vietnam Veteran.
Gene Olson. CSNBooks (Christian Services
Network). $17.95 paper (279p), ISBN 978-
1-59352-554-5
CSNBooks.com; Amazon
The Vietnam War is over, but not for
many Vietnam vets, including Olson, who
also suffers from bipolar disorder. This is the
story of his battle for sanity.
Looking Up: A Memoir of Sisters, Survi-
vors and Skokie.
Linda Pressman. CreateSpace. $16.99 hard-
cover (348p), ISBN 978-1-4564-7068-5
Amazon
A humorous yet somber memoir about
growing up in 1960s and 70s Chicago, one
of seven sisters and a child of Holocaust sur-
vivors.
Clips & Consequences: A Memoir.
Beth Myrle Rice. Purple Stripe Publishing.
$16.95 paper (379p), ISBN 978-0-615-
48151-7
www.purplestripepub-
lishing.com
Rat her t han f ace
prosecution on mari-
juana charges, Rice gave
up all contact with her
daughter, Zoey, until
she turned 18. This
memoir charts Rices path to forgiveness
and her attempt to redefine herself.
Blessed Be the Ties That Bind:
Freewoods Community in the 1950s.
ONeal Smalls. Vantage Press. $24.50 paper
(216p), ISBN 978-0-533-16388-5
Amazon
Freewoods, S.C., was founded by freed
slaves in the 1860s. Smalls, a retired law
professor, grew up there in the 1950s, and
in this work, based on his memories and
extensive interviews, he chronicles the year
1955, during the early days
of the civil rights movement
following Brown v. Board of Education and
facing the still active KKK.
The Upside of the Down Low:
A Pastors Wifes Memoir.
Yolanda King Stephen. No Ordinary Rose.
$15 paper (154p), ISBN 978-0-9836285-1-4
www.upsidebook.com
An unsuspecting pastors wife discovers
her husband is having illicit relations with
boys. She struggles to keep the household
together as the scandal overtakes her hus-
band, who then ends his life, while Stephen
is left to recover in this story of betrayal and
renewed faith.
In God We Trusted:
Escape from Lithuania.
Lili Hriskevicius Tremblay. Vantage Press.
$19.95 paper (179p), ISBN 978-0-533164-
16-5
Amazon
Hriskevicius, born into one of the
wealthiest families in Lithuania, lived a
fairy tale existence in a mansion on her fam-
ilys 1,000-acre estate until first the Soviets,
then the Germans, took over her country.
She and her family trekked across Europe to
escape WWII.
Bowls Out Goes In:
Every Man for Himself.
Gil Trott. Vantage Press. $10.95 paper
(144p), ISBN 978-0-533-16002-0
Amazon
Trott grew up in Bermuda in the 1930s
and 1940s, moved to the U.S. where he
served in an all-black battalion during
WWII, returned to Bermuda, and worked
in corporate America. His title is drawn
from a popular sandlot cricket game based
on the principle of every man for himself.
The Journal of Unemployment Studies.
Celia Scher Wagner. Lulu.com. $14.95
paper (126p), ISBN 978-0-557-53508-8
Lulu.com; Amazon
Where else can you find unemployment
haiku? A laugh-and-wince wisecracking
book to accompany smart people on the job-
hunt trail. Why does a search on/ Business
Analyst bring back/ Nanny
Wanted ad?
Still Time to Live:
A Biography of Jack Belden.
Gary G. Yerkey. GK Press. $14.99 paper
(310p), ISBN 978-0-615-45888-5
Amazon
A biography of the legendary mad and
gifted American war correspondent Jack
Belden (19101989), who reported for
Time-Life and other U.S. news organiza-
tions from China, Burma, North Africa, and
Europe in the 1930s and 1940s.
BODY, MIND & SPIRIT
Messages of Hope: Metaphysical
Memoir of a Most Unexpected Medium.
Suzanne Giesemann. One Mind Books.
$19. 95 paper (278p), ISBN 978-0-
9838539-1-6
OneMindBooks.com
A story of transfor-
mation, Messages of Hope
shares the compelling
transition of a former
Navy commander into
a practicing evidential
medium.
Beyond the Myth:
How to Live the Life You Desire.
Maria T. Holmes. Beyond the Myth. $24.95
hardcover (60p), ISBN 978-0-9830946-
0-9
beyondthemythbook.com
How to embrace and harness the prin-
ciples of desire, visualization, gratitude,
belief, and faith.
BUSINESS & ECONOMICS
Lose Your Broker Not Your Money.
Dan Calandro. Lose Your Broker LLC.
$27.95 hardcover (220p), ISBN 978-0-
9836613-0-6
www.loseyourbroker.com
Calandro untangles the mystery of suc-
cessful investing by providing a market-
based solution that is easy to understand,
simple to use, and produces superior per-
formance.
Building a Life, Building a Business:
A Memoir & Workbook.
Karen Lorene. Lorene Publications. $18.50
paper (292p), ISBN
978-0-9618302-1-2
(206) 624-6768
Amazon; Blurb.com
Forty years of busi-
ness balanced with 40
years of living: delusion
to ecstasy all in one book.
The Monopoly Method: An Insiders
Guide to Navigating Wall Street and
Becoming a Better Investor.
Greg J. McCall. Rock Crest Capital. $9.99
paper (146p), ISBN 978-0-615-49397-8
Amazon
McCalls strategy of focusing on monop-
olists has the dual virtues of being both
intellectually compelling and also right.
Plus, hes got that rare attribute: a Wall
Street guy who can speak in the language of
the rest of us.Duff McDonald, contrib-
uting editor at Fortune magazine.
FAMILY & RELATIONSHIPS
Seduction Redefined: A Guide to
Creative Collaboration of the
Feminine and Masculine.
Donna Oehm Sheehan and Paul Reffell.
Pioneer Imprints. $19 paper (248p), ISBN
978-0-9818318-7-9
www.seductionredefined.com
As the authors see it,
there are two problems
on the planetwomen
and men. Witty solu-
tions to save our species,
involving seduction,
sex, brain science, and
empathy.
FICTION
Poor Mans Out.
Mark Aff. Cityglow Publishing. $14.95
paper (304p), ISBN 978-0-9831628-0-3
www.cityglowpublishing.com
A young Lebanese-Americans handicap
prevents him from joining in Americas
WWII effort, but not from trying for prize-
fighting glory as a middleweight. Based on
a true story.
The Return.
Maggie Allen. Outskirts Press. $14.95
paper (208p), ISBN 978-1-4327-6260-5
www.outskirtspress.com/thereturn
A high school graduate travels to Africa
to reunite with her crush from summer
camp. Their tour group encounters far more
adventure than they expected.
The Ordinary Life and Extraordinary
Death of Josh Turner.
David Treciak. Amberlin Press. $15.95
paper (200p), ISBN 978-0-9836694-0-1
www.davidtreciak.com
What happens to us after we die? This
book answers that question, and many
more, as we share in Joshs final days on
Earth as he careens through the cosmos
with an all-knowing extraterrestrial named
Max, who offers to reveal the secrets of the
universeif you ask nicely.
Obeste:
The Biography of Sissy Weathers.
Victoria Barlow. JLWalters. $28 hardcover
(108p), ISBN 978-0-557-38238-5
Amazon; Lulu.com
A young girl searches for freedom from
her abusive family. Barlows novel addresses
the largely ignored crisis of women and chil-
dren forced into the sex trade as well as the
health crisisobesityfacing the United
States.
Photo Shoot: A Will Porter Mystery.
Louis Barth. Vantage Press. $14.95 paper
(258p), ISBN 978-0-533-16397-7
Amazon.com
Will Porter turns 50 on 9/11, watches
the historic events unfold, and decides to
change his life, hitting the road in an RV
with his blind Welsh terrier and work-
ing as a free-lance photographer. Various
events conspire to bring him in touch with
Southern family traditionsboth Sicilian
and American.
Jane of the Jungle.
Jane Baskin. iUniverse. $20.48 paper
(239p), ISBN 978-1-4620-0292-4
Amazon
A runaway nurse and a mobster fight to
win a second chance at lifewhich will only
happen if magic is real.
Jokers Club.
Gregory Bastianelli. JournalStone. $11.95
paper (200p), ISBN 978-1-936564-30-9
journalstone.com
Diagnosed with a brain tumor, Geoffrey
returns to his hometown for a reunion of the
Jokers Club (his childhood gang) with the
hopes of unearthing his youthful imagina-
tion.
The Angel Hunter.
Jerrod Begora. iUniverse. $15.95 paper
(208p), ISBN 978-1-4620-2826-9
Ingram
Lucile prays for her missing cousin. A
secret society helps, but angels attack. The
angels appear evil, and God is nowhere to
be found.
Memories of an Emerald World.
Michael Bleriot. MacGregor Books. $11.99
paper (491p), ISBN 978-0-9833751-0-4
Amazon
Comic tales drawn from a pilots real-life
adventures looking for drug smugglers in
Central and South America.
Ultimaya 1.0: The Trouble with the
Wishes of Leopold Stokes.
Saniel Bonder. Human Sun Meia. $14.95
paper (302p), ISBN 978-0-9753532-5-7
(707) 933-8466
This spiritual sci-fi
fantasy with a Southern
drawl chronicles a small
town bankers adven-
tures with a computer
program that promises
to fulfill his deepest
wishes.
The Teahouse by the Tracks.
Eric Schoeniger. CreateSpace. $14.99 paper
(380p), ISBN 978-0-615-52960-8
Amazon
A retired widow opens a teashop and
finds friendship in an unlikely collection of
lost souls. But will a sudden tragedy destroy
their haven?
A Medallion Sundered: Darians Story.
Vickie M. Briscoe. CreateSpace. $15 paper
(360p), ISBN 978-1-4563-8123-3
Amazon
In a world of mortals and enchantments,
young Darian finds himself turned into a
horse. Thus begins a journey that walks the
thin line between justice and revenge in this
story of friendship.
Prophets of the Ghost Ants.
Clark Thomas Carlton. CreateSpace. $14.95
paper (399p), ISBN 978-1-4609-4904-7
Amazon
An epic sci-fi/fantasy
of a distant future when
humans have evolved to
the size of insects and
are intertwined with the
insect world.
#Algorithm.
C. C. Carrington. CreateSpace. $14.95
paper (300p), ISBN 978-1-4636-2437-8
Amazon
A wild adventure into the trials and
tribulations of interdimensional intrigue
where bots, algorithms, and hybrids share
multiple realities in a future technocratic
society.
The Anaconda Complex.
Bryan Cassiday. CreateSpace. $25.95 paper
(397p), ISBN 978-1-4609-0774-0
Amazon
A U.S. senator is kidnapped on his door-
step. No ransom note is left. Why? A fugi-
tive CIA hit man is assigned to find out.
Dogs Have Angels Too.
Sarah Cavallaro. Custom Worthy Editions.
$16.95 paper (218p), ISBN 978-1-935340-
86-7
Amazon; BN.com; Ingram; B&T
Miss Pink, an out-of-work marketing
executive whos intermittently homeless,
makes it her mission to find homes for a
bevy of canines who are locked in a kill-
shelter in New York City.
Two-Thousand Eighty-Four.
W. Schoellkopf. Arbor Books. $17.95 paper
(295p), ISBN 978-0-9841992-2-8
Amazon
In the not-too-distant
future, the richest families in the U.S.
control everything, both politically and
socially. But when the members of the rul-
ing class begin to run amok, who will rein
them in?
Hunt of the Sea Wolves.
John Chadwell. CreateSpace. $10.99 paper
(245p), ISBN 978-1-4637-6687-0
Amazon
American and Indian Special Forces must
stop terrorists who hijacked supertankers to
use as weapons of mass destruction against
cities in Australia, Japan, and America.
SHEgo: A Journey into Consciousness.
Tania Zaverta Chance. Outskirts Press.
$14.95 paper (209p), ISBN 978-1-4327-
5575-1
www.taniazavertachance.com
A beautiful, successful, yet disillusioned
King Printing
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and
woman goes on a journey of
self-discovery, but her painful
past converges with her present to create a
dramatic complication.
Destined: A Novel of the Tarot.
Gail Cleare. G&G Publications. $12 paper
(348p), ISBN 978-1-4610-0776-0
Amazon; BN.com
Follow Emilys journey to self discovery,
spirit, and love, a lyrical magical-realism
romance set in a contemporary multicul-
trual community.
22 Inches of Rain.
J. Max Cromwell. CreateSpace. $11.99
paper (304p), ISBN
978-1-4563-2373-8
Amazon
An i ns pi r at i onal
novel about a chronic
insomniac and his quest
to find the meaning of
life.
Safely Buried.
John Pesta. CreateSpace. $15.95 paper
(388p), ISBN 978-1-4563-4447-4
Amazon
When newspaperman Phil Larrison picks
up Paula, a hitchhiker with a broken leg, he
is plunged into a chilling murder mystery
and a terrifying adventure.
Rain.
Leigh K. Cunningham. Vivante Publishing.
$12.95 paper (316p), ISBN 978-981-08-
8280-8
www.leighkcunningham.com/stores/
One familys history in a journey that
spans four decades and crosses the globe.
A Culpable Innocence:
The American Dream Reprised.
Anthony DeBenedict. Vantage Press.
$25.95 hardcover (340p), ISBN 978-0-
533-16363-2
Amazon
A story grounded in the hard reality of
wars chaos and uncertainties, yet transcen-
dent in its themes of love, heroism, and
sacrifice. The author draws upon his own
experience as a decorated soldier in Vietnam
and many historical sources, some of which
have only recently been declassified.
The Grand Mirage.
Darrell Delamaide. Barnaby Woods
Books. $13.99 paper (304p), ISBN 978-0-
9839958-0-7
Amazon
A historical thriller filled with intrigue
and adventure depicts British agent Lord
Leightons efforts to thwart the construction
of the Baghdad Railway in 1910.
Meeting: The Business: Journal I.
Hollie Delaney. Author House. $15.99
paper (293p), ISBN
978-1-4567-4512-7
www.victoriaslilas.com
A Native American
shaman of the 14th cen-
tury finds the missing
part of his soul in the
21st century.
The Fetching of Spring.
Reg Down. CreateSpace. $16.50 paper
(248p), ISBN 978-1-4662-6619-3
Amazon
A Parsifal tale of high adventure, awak-
ening, with a satirical bent.
Wine Killer: A Jake Halsey Mystery.
William Edgerton. Halsey Press. $14.95
paper (328p), ISBN 978-0-9834938-0-8
Halseypress.com
Wine lover and forensic enthusiast Jake
Halsey suffers a personal tragedy, sells his
software business in California, and moves
to Greenwich, Conn., where he begins to
sense that an someone is knocking off wine
lovers and destroying wine cellars. Halsey
cant resist investigating, but discovers a
horrible truth along the way.
A Passel of Hate.
Joe Epley. CreateSpace. $17.95 paper
(349p), ISBN 978-1-4610-7593-6
Amazon
A thriller of brother fighting brother,
neighbor fighting neighbor during the
American Revolutionary War in the
Carolina backcountry.
Walden 3.0: A Dystopian Romance.
Phil Fragasso. Erewhon Press. $7.99 paper
(180p), ISBN 978-1-4663-6548-3
Amazon
If Steve Jobs designed a utopian com-
munity, had it filtered by Lewis Black and
then painted by Picasso, it would look like
Walden 3.0, says the author.
Discordia: The Inferno Trilogy, Book 1.
Morgana Gallaway. St. Brides Press. $27
hardcover (453p), ISBN 978-0-9836989-
2-0
www.morganagallaway.com
In this reimagining of Dante, the arch-
demon Astaroth forges an unlikely alliance
with Mona, a human soul hes supposed to
tempt into damnation.
Wild Blue Yonder: A Novel of the 1960s.
Jack B. Rochester. Joshua Tree Press. $13.95
paper (296p), ISBN 978-1-4565-8889-2
Amazon
A 1960s portrait of the writer as a young
man, brimming with romance, existential-
ism, military madness, social unrest, psy-
chedelia, and great rock n roll.
A Small, Perfect Place:
A Novel of Brazil.
Arnold Gordenstein. iUniverse. $20.95
paper (340p), ISBN 978-1-4620-2093-5
Amazon; Barnes & Noble; iUniverse
A disillusioned American ex-activist
retires to Brazil in the turbulent 1970s,
when the military ruled, but is returned to
loveand subversion.
The Miracle Chip: Are You Ready?
Stanley Grainger. Xlibris. $23.99 paper
(428p), ISBN 978-1-4653-4844-9
www.themiraclechipbook.com
An exciting saga that
unfolds in the near future
exposing a conspiracy
that could manipulate
humanity into willfully
surrendering its sover-
eignty to a One World
Government.
Blue Fall.
B.B. Griffith. Griffith Publishing. $12.95
paper (503p), ISBN 978-0-9824817-4-5
griffithpublishing.com
In a secret world, the rich and powerful
place wagers in the greatest and most dan-
gerous game on Earth.
Fire in the Henhouse.
Frances Grote. Rule Bender Press. $19.95
paper (474p), ISBN 978-0-9833341-0-1
www.indiebound.org; Amazon
Humor, mystery, and redemption grace
this tale of a small Pennsylvania town full of
quirky characters (including a cross-dress-
ing car dealer) who must come to grips with
tragedy.
The Shadow of the Staff:
A Wizards Revenge.
M.A. Haddad. Vantage Press. $24.95 paper
(272p), ISBN 978-0-
533-16111-9
Amazon
A fantasy that takes
place in the mythical
land of Hatu, where a
new power has arisen to
threaten the continent.
The Queue and Warriors:
A Novella and a Trilogy of Plays.
L. Michael Hager. Xlibris. $19.99 paper
(195p), ISBN 978-1-4628-7544-3
Xlibris.com; Amazon
Aging, generational conflict, and mor-
tality are the themes that run through this
novella and three one-act plays.
The Queen of Washington.
Francis Hamit. Brass Cannon Books. $32
hardcover (309p), ISBN 978-1-59595-
171-7
(800) 345-6665
An alternative historical fiction about
famed Confederate spy Rose O Neal
Greenhow proposes that she may already
have been spying for the French and British
before the Mexican War.
My Name Is Grace.
Lorraine Oman Hanover. Infinity Publish-
ing. $15.95 paper (286p), ISBN 978-0-
7414-6423-1
www.buybooksontheweb.com
Graces diary, writ-
ten in Scotland during
WWII, chronicles her
tragic life and serves
as a road map to the
Canadian runaway who
finds it.
Whispers from the Ashes.
Patricia Hester. CreateSpace. $14.60 paper
(409p), ISBN 978-0-9845616-0-5
Amazon; BN.com
In this coming-of-age novel, Hester tells
an emotional story of family, community,
simple living, and the harsh reality of sur-
viving hard times.
The Day Before the Berlin Wall: Could
We Have Stopped It?
T.H.E. Hill. CreateSpace. $9.95 paper
(176p), ISBN 978-1-4538-2514-3
www.voicesunderberlin.com/buy.html
An American ser-
geant has intelligence
that can stop construc-
tion of the Berlin Wall,
but can he survive to
report it before it is too
late?
Destination: Michigan.
Shelby J. Holtz, illus. by Crystal R. Holtz.
Vantage Press. $16.95 (404p), ISBN 987-
0-533-16438-7
Amazon
Could the likes of Bigfoot, Sasquatch,
the Alligator Man, El Chupacabra, and the
Jersey Devil all inhabit the same novel? For
Riley, on a summer vacation in Michigan,
the answer may be yes.
The Case of the Missing Cobras.
Kathy Kaye. CreateSpace. $16.50 paper
(445p), ISBN 978-1-4537-2506-1
Amazon
A thriller about cornering the market
on one of the worlds most exotic species
while trying to solve the mysterious disap-
pearance of Thailands king cobra popula-
tion. Kaye is a medical writer and former
managing editor of the American Medical
Association.
Some Feet Not Meant for
Shoes.
Pamela Klein. iUniverse. $24.95 paper
(447p), ISBN 978-1-4620-1849-9
Amazon
A defiant young white woman embarks
upon a mystical journey through greed, rac-
ism, and intolerance to find that in a previ-
ous lifetime she was a black slave.
Flyover Country.
Daniel Koehler. Noosphere Publishing/
KSI. $2.99 paper (420p), ISBN 978-1-
4523-5694-5
danielkoehler.bizland.com
In 1962, three crimesa patricide, a
bank robbery, and a kidnappinglead to
tragedy, secret sharing, redemption, and a
May/September romance in flyover coun-
try.
Off the Grid.
Dan Kolbet. CreateSpace. $14.95 paper
(362p), ISBN 978-1-4664-1047-3
www.DanKolbet.com
Luke Kincaid is forced to become a cor-
porate spy on behalf of a wireless company
that has allowed a vast blackout to terrorize
America.
Warned.
Dustin Kuhlman. Admonish Publish-
ing. $14.95 paper (267p), ISBN 978-0-
9829489-0-3
Amazon
The wor s t di s as -
ter mankind has ever
known may l ead to
a great discovery in
this eco-philosophical
thriller.
Lucky Shot: A Novel.
Sarah Leamy. Strategic Book Publishing.
$14.50 paper (214p), ISBN 978-1-61204-
684-6
Amazon
Lucky takes photos throughout the chaos
of avoiding his fathers death, and losing a
girlfriend, by driving cross-country alone,
yet returns openhanded if reluctantly to
New Mexico.
The Corcoran Affair.
Philip Lentz. iUniverse.
$12.95 paper (162p), ISBN 978-0-595-
33568-8
iUniverse
The Corcoran Affair is a political thriller
about a conservative president who gets
AIDS and the flamboyant tabloid reporter
who tracks down the truth.
Suggestion of Death.
Janet Kole. CreateSpace. $12.99 paper
(288p), ISBN 978-1-4637-2199-2
Amazon
This murder mystery involves pedophile
priests, AIDS, and Big Law lawyers with a
unique narrator, a former prosecutor whose
gender remains unknown.
In the Days of Noah: Apophis.
Jayne Lind. CreateSpace. $8.50 paper
(196p), ISBN 978-1-4499-2747-9
Amazon; B&N; Smashwords
How would you live your life if you knew
you only had one year to live? This novel
is set in London in 2028, a year before the
near-Earth asteroid Apophis is due to make
impact.
Code of Darkness.
Chris Lindberg. Lulu
. com. $16. 99 paper
(316p), ISBN 978-1-
257-80263-0
www.codeofdarkness
.com
When a high-stakes
bl a c k ops mi s s i on
within U.S. borders goes awry, only a mys-
terious loner and the police officer out to
arrest him can prevent the unthinkable from
happening.
What Happened When Technology
Went Before Morality?
Harry Lintinas. Vantage Press. $13.95
paper (135p), ISBN 978-0-522-16375-5
Amazon
This 21st-century allegory explores the
question of where our technological revo-
lution went wrongand how a group of
individuals can correct it.
Near Side of the
Precipice.
Dal e Lowther. Cre-
ateSpace. $18.75 paper
(470p), ISBN 978-1-
4563-3331-7
Amazon
A thriller about the
most feared terrorist conspiracy since 9/11.
Brighter Side of Darkness.
Sylvia Maria Lucas. Page Publishing. $14.95
paper (327p), ISBN 978-0-9832212-0-3
www.sylvialucas.com
A novel centered on Donna Brown, an
ambitious Creole African-American local
news anchor looking for true love.
A Better Man.
Audrey Lynn. Audrey Lynn. $17.95 paper
(412p), ISBN 978-0-615-44968-5
Amazon
The Soviet Union is falling apart, and
so is Vladimir Verstakov, who was called
to serve in Afghanistan, from which he
emerges the lone survivor after a brutal
battle. Back home, he must contend with
constant memories of war.
Out, Out: A Novel of Women and Apes.
Kim MacQueen. Jungo Books. $15 paper
(208p), ISBN 978-0-615-48182-1
kimmacqueen.com
Deb chronicles her growing obsession
with a scientist in a primate lab, as the apes
start acting more human, and the humans
more like apes.
Lifting the Wheel of Karma.
Paul H. Magid. Point Dume Press. $15
paper (192p), ISBN 978-0-9840160-6-8
Amazon
A modern tale that harks back to the
myths of antiquity, where a boy finds God
in the most amazing ways.
The Tides of Time: A Novel.
M.J. Manley. Vantage. $14.95 hardcover
(325p), ISBN 978-0-533-16344-1
Amazon
Manley explores the notion that if man-
kind would just pay more attention to the
inevitable waves and catastrophic chal-
lenges, much of the worlds peril could be
avoided.
Public Information:
A Novel About the Korean War.
Rolf Margenau. Frogworks Publishing. $25
paper (378p), ISBN 978-1-4581-7478-9
www.frogworks.com
Wylie Cypher comes of age as a soldier
during the forgotten war.
Kings, Queens, Heroes, & Fools:
The Wardstone Trilogy, Book Two.
M.R. Mathias. CreateSpace. $17.76 paper
(420p), ISBN 978-1-4636-0585-8
Amazon
A continuation of Mathiass the Sword
and the Dragon series.
The Butchers Boy.
Michael Robb Mathias. CreateSpace. $9.99
paper (240p), ISBN 978-1-4565-3685-5
Amazon
A haunting paranor-
mal thriller featuring a
divorce, her 11-year-
old son, an overprotec-
tive Rottweiler, and
the haunted house they
move into.
The Color of Heaven.
Julianne MacLean and E.V. Mitchell. Cre-
ateSpace. $13.99 paper (314p), ISBN 978-
0-9868422-2-1
Amazon
A tale of one womans journey through
the ups and downs of life, and the profound
experience that unlocks the secrets of her
past.
Up from Corinth:
Book 2 of Journey into Darkness.
J. Arthur Moore. Xlibris. $19.99 paper
(160p), ISBN 978-1-4628-7454-5
Xlibris; Amazon; Barnes & Noble
This historical fiction takes young read-
ers into the Civil War through the experi-
ences of a peer, Duane Kinkade, at the Battle
of Shiloh and the year that follows.
Blue Moon over New Orleans.
Anna Mayhall Munding. CreateSpace.
$9.35 paper (292p), ISBN 978-1-4635-
6211-3
Amazon
When New Orleanian Jack Landings
newly found love disappears in post-WWII
Europe, he is thrust into a world of intrigue.
Saamaanthaa.
D.T. Neal. CreateSpace. $19.99 paper
(392p), ISBN 978-1-4636-8843-1
www.saamaanthaa.com
A Chicago artist-turned-werewolf finds
grisly, gleeful inspiration in her affliction
while devouring the local art scene in this
comic, literary jaunt through the city.
Band on the Run.
Benita Nelson. $7.99 e-book (379p), ASIN
B005ZVBBIO
Amazon
Rock star Dani McKenna has it all: fame,
fortuneand an extortionist. Could it be
a crazed fan? Not even close; its the U.S.
government.
Red Right Return.
John H. Cunningham, Ph.D. Wheatmark.
$15.95 paper (316p), ISBN 978-1-60494-
704-5
www.jhcunningham.com
In this mystery set in Key West, Buck
Reilly wants three things in life: a seaplane,
a treasure to find, and a woman to rescue.
Tree Soldier.
J.L. Oakley. CreateSpace. $15 paper (368p),
ISBN 978-1-4538-9647-1
Amazon
One mistake can ruin a life. One mistake
can transform it. Can a government forestry
camp bring redemption? Park Hardesty
hopes for just that in this tale of love, guilt,
and danger among the trees.
The Prospect of My
Arrival.
Dwight Okita. Cre-
(277p), ISBN 978-1-
4609-5989-3
Amazon; Ingram
A human embryo is
allowed to preview the world before decid-
ing whether to be born. A cautionary tale
served up with equal helpings of whimsy
and dread.
Grace Note: In Hildegards Shadow.
P.J. Parsons. iUniverse. $18.95 paper
(300p), ISBN 978-1-4620-3123-8
Amazon
Grace Note tells the 12th-century story of
a 21st-century icon, St. Hildegard, through
the eyes of a childhood friend.
The Thunderblade.
Kevin L. Perks. Vantage
Press. $13.95 paper
(326p), ISBN 978-0-
533-16296-3
Amazon
This science fiction
fantasy features a good
wizard and two evil villains in a struggle
for supremacy.
Sudden Deception: A Jill Oliver Thriller.
Judith Price. Judith Price. $12.99 paper
(277p), ISBN 978-0-9877894-1-9
Amazon
A complex thriller that reflects the politi-
cal realities of current events in a week-long
journey that concludes in Dubai.
Zaftan Miscreants:
Book 2 of the Zaftan Trilogy.
Hank Quense. CreateSpace. $14.99 paper
(211p), ISBN 978-1-4637-4049-8
(201) 414-3434
Two alien culturesone consisting of
fantasy creatures, the other zaftan mon-
stersclash in space. Meanwhile, an
android with an organic brain falls in love
with a computer, and a zaftan tries to succeed
through her abilities rather than treachery.
With humor and satire, the Zaftan trilogy
continues.
Impacts: A Novel.
David Radmore. Vantage Press. $15.95
paper (404p), ISBN 978-0-533-16372-4
Amazon
A coming-of-age novel brings its protag-
onist, Danny, through the era of the Great
Depression and WWII, flavored with inno-
cence, trepidation, and courage, and ending
with his consciousness of the
devastation of the two nuclear
bombs dropped on Japan.
The Quiet Sound of Disappearing.
Ryan Rayston. AuthorHouse. $18.95 paper
(328p), ISBN 978-1-4567-1814-5
Amazon; AuthorHouse
A gut-wrenching, fictionalized account
of a young woman in the vortex of a 1980s
sex, drugs, and hedonism scene, trying
and failing at rehab, and caught in a major
Capital Hill drug scandal.
Virtually Yours,
Jonathan Newman.
Robert Rosel l . Trai l -
head Press. $14.95 paper
( 332p) , ISBN 978-1-
4611-5745-8
www. Tr ai l HeadPr es s
.com
A dystopian peek at a libertarian future,
when the government is weak, the powerful
play dirty, and life is no tea party.
Devils Eye.
Al Ruksenas. Meridia Publishers. $17.95
paper (366p), ISBN 978-0-615-40498-1
devilseyethebook.com
A secret U.S. commando teams up with
a beautiful French historian to uncover an
ancient cults high-level infiltrator trying
to subdue America through a nuclear sur-
render in this paranormal thriller.
The Tenth Day.
Don Safran. Red Willow Publishing. $7.99
paper (208p), ISBN 978-1-936539-22-2
Amazon
A Marine Corps major pursues a female
killer among a shipload of Army wives sail-
ing to their husbands in Germany at the
close of WWII.
Ivetha: An Airedales Compendium.
Bradd Allen Saunders. CreateSpace. $11.99
paper (366p), ISBN 978-1-4635-0427-4
Amazon
Ivetha is an apparently ordinary street,
but people who encounter it face strange and
mysterious occurrences, described in this
unusual compendium, which chronicles the
mysterious manner in which it
changes peoples lives.
Rainbows: A Novel in Five Parts.
W. Schoellkopf. Arbor Books. $18 paper
(148p), ISBN 978-0-9818658-5-0
Amazon
Peter and his three daughtersCarol, a
gallery owner and addict; Helen, a collec-
tor of Dutch art; and Nancy, a modern art
specialistcan relate to each other in lifes
crises and discussions only through color
theory, art, and the art business.
A Little Dab a Do Ya.
Eric L. Brantley. Mahogany Moon Com-
munications. $10.95 paper (162p), ISBN
978-0-9827883-0-1
mahoganymoon.com
A young poet and an elderly blues singer
meet at a jazz club in Detroit and share their
experiences in ways that enlighten and sup-
port each other.
Amo, Amas, Amat...:
An Unconventional
Love Story.
Carter Taylor Seaton.
CreateSpace. $16.95
paper (293p), ISBN
978-1-4635-8464-1
(304) 523-7902
Seatons second novel is set in 1983, when
Mary Cate, a nave homophobic, marries
Nick, a closeted gay man, leading her to
discover that fairy tale notions of love are
far from true love. Seatons first novel was
a category finalist for ForeWord magazines
2003 Book of the Year Awards.
The Arranger: A Futuristic Thriller.
L.J. Sellers. Spellbinder Press. $13.99 paper
(264p), ISBN 978-0-9832138-5-7
Amazon
In 2023, ex-detective Lara Evans wit-
nesses a crime, then competes in a national
endurance contest, but a mysterious
assailant threatens her chances of surviv-
ing. Sellers has also written the Detective
Jackson mystery series.
My Sweet Saga.
Brett Sills. Admiral J Press. $16 paper
(452p), ISBN 978-0-
6155-3213-4
www.journalstone.com
Take one 30-year-old
man in L.A.; add boring
job, upcoming marriage,
and father whos won the
lottery. Mix in a trip to
Sweden with said father and falling into a
quirky love triangle. The resulting adven-
tures are in screenwriter Sillss first novel.
Seven Stories to Read Before They
Become Movies.
Mike Slosberg. Xlibris. $19.95 hardcover
(113p), ISBN 978-1-4628-7264-0
(888) 795-4274
Some movies have grown from short sto-
ries. Slosberg, a novelist and author of The
Official Book of Old Age Haiku, tosses seven
short storiessome funny, some with twisty
endsinto the cinematic competition.
The Dark Before Dawn.
Laurie Stevens. Follow Your Dreams Pro-
ductions. $13.49 paper (372p), ISBN 978-
1-4564-5011-3
Amazon
Grisly murders are taking place high in
the Santa Monica Mountains. On each of
the victims bodies is a note left for the L.A.
sheriffs detective, Gabriel McRay. First in
a series.
Women Outside the Walls.
Trisha Sugarek. CreateSpace. $14.95 paper
(300p), ISBN 978-1-4537-1501-7
Amazon
Playwright Sugarek has turned her
eponymous play about Alma, Kitty, and
Hattiewomen who love men who are in
prisoninto a novel, revealing their lives
in flashbacks, and then confronting them
with a moment of violence and heartbreak
on one visiting day.
The First Ward:
Mark Twain, Fingy
Conners & the Sulli-
van Brothers.
Richard Sullivan. Cre-
(394p), ISBN 978-1-
4636-3658-6
Amazon
Irish workers on Buffalos waterfront
First Ward in the mid-to-late19th cen-
tury are at the heart of this engrossing saga
of the Sullivan family, Mark Twain, and a
First Ward saloon keeper; based on histori-
cal research and family stories.
That Which Should Not Be.
Brett J. Talley. JournalStone. $12.95 paper
(262p), ISBN 978-1-9365-6414-9
Amazon
Miskatonic Universitys reputation for
a connection to the occult and supernatu-
ral proves true when a stu-
dent tracks down a book,
The Inferno of the Witch, for
his professor. But has he
unleashed forces beyond
anyones control? Winner of
JournalStones 2011 Horror
Writing Contest.
A Hollow Cup.
Alan Thompson. WingSpan Press. $32.95
404-7
Amazon; BN.com
Set in a town very much like Chapel Hill,
N.C., this debut novel tells the story of two
men who were boys there in the 1960s and
who return as lawyers on opposing sides in
a murder tale that is as much about race and
culture as it is a legal thriller.
You Dont Die of Love: Stories.
Thomas Thonson. CreateSpace. $11.99
paper (254p), ISBN 978-1-4609-2874-5
Amazon
Dreams collide with reality in this inven-
tive collection of linked short stories about
Hollywood lives gone awry from screen-
writer Thonson.
Cross Purposes: If Newspapers Had
Covered the Crucifixion.
Joel Thurtell. Hardalee Press. $20 paper
(181p), ISBN 978-0-9759969-6-6
Amazon
If Christ were crucified today, would
modern media notice? This satirical debut
from a former Detroit Free Press journalist
and now blogger eviscerates newspaper
mores, media arrogance, and stupidity.
The Secrets They Kept.
Joanne Tombrakos. Joanne Tombra-
kos. $11.99 paper (288p), ISBN 978-0-
9840076-0-8
Amazon
A lawyer discovers she has a long-lost
relative, which leads her to a box of let-
ters and long-kept secrets in this story of
a Greek-American family living in New
York.
The Essene Conspiracy.
S. Eric Wachtel. S. Eric Wachtel. $14.99
paper (308p), ISBN 978-0-615-42646-4
Amazon
A blood-stained card
found in the shirt pocket of
a slain Israeli minister leads
international security con-
sultant Harry McClure to a
Wall Street money-launder-
ing scheme and a Messianic
brotherhood plotting to
overthrow the Israeli government.
A Song of Africa.
Ronald Brian Wheatley. CreateSpace.
$13.99 paper (200p), ISBN 978-1-4635-
1179-1
Amazon
Set in Nigeria in 1966 during the Biafran
War, this vivid depiction of three Americans
playing out their battles of conscience,
pride, and passion draws on the authors
experience as a Peace Corps volunteer in
that country.
Search.
Jan Widgery. Mystery Bay Press. $19.50
paper (259p), ISBN 978-1-257-93970-1
Lulu.com
A child is kidnapped and abused by her
father in the 1960s; as a young woman in the
1980s, shes haunted by her past. In search-
ing for her identity, she discovers her own
strength.
Murder in Vienna.
Irene Wittig. Lulu.com. $19.50 paper
(213p), ISBN 978-1-105-09426-2
Lulu.com
A ceramics artist and author, Wittig
delves into her family history for this haunt-
ing tale of three friends, only one of whom
survives WWII, and how the choices they
made ripple out to the next generations.
Mnemes Place: Book One.
Glenn P. Wolfe. iUniverse. $18.95 paper
(296p), ISBN 978-1-4620-1714-0
iUniverse
The posthumously published autobio-
graphical novel by a former TV writer is set
in a timeless saloon, where Ralph Jonas, the
writer, indulges in his twin passions of the
English language and baseball, and encoun-
ters all the events and peopleliving, dead,
and fictionalthat reside in his memory.
Reternity.
Neal Wooten. Mirror Publishing. $6.99
paper (240p), ISBN 978-1-61225-041-0
(414) 763-1034; www.reternitybook.com
In this coming-of-age tale, Max heads to
college where his parents fear his Christian
faith will be tested. In
a physics class, whose
professor holds weekly
Bible sessions, Max
finds his fascination
with science and his
faith not so much collid-
ing as raising questions
he never expected.
Memoirs of a Eurasian.
Vivian Yang. CreateSpace. $15.99 paper
(220p), ISBN 978-1-4610-1341-9
Amazon
Mo Mo, the granddaughter of a Chinese
teenager and a Russian exile, lives through
the tumultuous times during and after
the Chinese Cultural Revolution. In her
travels from Shanghai to Hong Kong and
beyond, she faces racial prejudice and a
difficult relationship with her mother. An
excerpt won third place in the Leonard
Lopate (of WNYC radio fame) Essay
Contest.
GARDENING
Flowers of Volunteer Park Conserva-
tory:
Blooming Month by Month.
Sara L. Chapman. Book Pub-
lishers Network. $27.95 hardcover (144p),
ISBN 978-1-935359-81-4
www.lovethatimage.com
The Volunteer Park Conservatory of
Seattle celebrates its centennial with this
sumptuous photography book presenting a
month-by-month tour. Each chapter shows
the flowers blooming that month along with
an index listing the common and scientific
plant names. This work will inspire flower
lovers, gardeners, and plant professionals.
HEALTH & FITNESS
Growing Ageless: The Simple Art of
Health and Longevity.
Richard E. Bush. Longevity Press. $14.95
paper (198p), ISBN 978-0-9828192-0-3
Amazon; Ingram
The authora certified instructor for
the Universal Healing Tao in Thailand, a
shiatsu practitioner, and an
Usui Reiki masteroffers
a system combining Eastern
and Western health and lon-
gevity practices, including
meditations, exercises, and
methods for customizing
ones diet for best results.
What Do the Doctors Say?: How Doctors
Create a World Through Their Words
Janet Farrell Leontiou. iUniverse. $13.95
paper (109p), ISBN 978-1-4502-2582-3
Amazon
One of Leontious twin sons was diagnosed
with cerebral palsy. As a professor of communi-
cation, she found herself studying the language
of the doctors she consulted, and she presents
her analysis of how medical culture gets created
through the way that doctors talk. Her iden-
tification of 12 language patterns that create
a culture of disconnection is intended to help
parents of children with disabilities, and all
patients, navigate the medical conversation.
Skin Sense!:
A Dermatologists Guide to Skin Care.
Stephen Schleicher, M.D. iUniverse. $13.95
paper (117p), ISBN 978-1-4401-7427-8
Amazon
For every skin-care problem from acne
to wrinkles, Skin Sense! is a
resource from dermatologist
Schleicher, who is founder and director
of DermDOX Center for Dermatology
in Pennsylvania, on the medical board of
Emergency Medicine magazine, and on the
advisory board of the Day Spa Association;
he has also co-hosted Skin Sense, on TV,
and Speaking of Your Skin, on the radio.
HISTORY
Al one, Unarmed, and Unafrai d:
Unarmed Reconnaissance During the
Vietnam Conflict.
Taylor Eubank. Ramtho Publishing. $19.95
paper (131p), ISBN 978-1-934668-33-7
www.aloneunarmedandunafraid.com
Former FBI agent Eubank, also a veteran
of the Vietnam War, offers accounts of the
air crews that flew reconnaissance missions
without weapons or escorts over an armed
Hanoi.
Fairest Picture:
Mark Twain at Lake
Tahoe.
David Antonucci. Cre-
( 302p) , ISBN 978-1-
4637-6569-9
Amazon
Mark Twains second major work, Roughing
It, details his search for wealth in Nevada. In
this work, Antonucci brings together every
fact he could find about Twain and his adven-
tures at Lake Tahoe, as well as every word
Twain wrote about the place.
HOUSE & HOME
Good Riddance:
Showing Clutter the Door.
Susan Boraz & Heather Knittel. Profes-
sional Organizing Solutions. $14.95 paper
(156p), ISBN 978-0-9867177-0-3
www.goodriddance.ca
In this humorous yet practical book,
two professional organizers dissect every
room to motivate readers to tackle the most
common CRUD (Completely Ridiculous
Useless Debris) problems; they identify the
top 100 house-cluttering culprits and show
how to get rid of them.
HUMOR
One Thing or
Another.
Ritchie Piazza. Vantage
Press. $14.95 paper
(104p), ISBN 987-0-
533-16413-4
Amazon
A collection of 22 original and witty
stories: says the author: Were not laugh-
ing enough these days. Were worrying too
much about Asian carp. Let the Asian carp
worry for a while.
JUVENILE FICTION
Hotey.
Josephine Bailey. AuthorHouse. $22.50
2390-2
AuthorHouse; www.Hotey.net
Set in the American southwest at the turn
of the 19th century, these are the adventures
of a wild burro, known as Donkey Hotey,
who wanders from his home to follow wild
mustangs, befriends Sancho the parrot, and
meets danger, fear, and sorrow. A portion of
the proceeds are donated to Peaceful Valley
Donkey Rescue.
The Windwalkers.
Robert Carlile. Longwood Publishing.
$14.99 paper (183p), ISBN 978-0-615-
40545-2
www.windwalkersthebook.com
A windwalker is someone who gains the
courage to face his enemy. Chris Creighton,
14, fears a vicious bully called Spider. He and
his two friends construct their own world in
the marshes and learn how to defeat Spider.
Malcolm McDinkelstorm
Fedderman Stich.
Peter Carnegie, illus. by Patty Johnston.
CreateSpace. $10 paper (26p), ISBN 978-
1-4538-3835-8
Amazon
Malcolm has to decide what to call his
new frog, and with a name like Malcolm
McDinkelstorm Fedderman Stich, choosing a
name is tongue-twisting, silly fun. Ages 310.
Kusikiy: A Child from Taquile, Peru.
Mercedes Cecilia. Keepers of Wisdom and
Peace Books. $24.99 paper (48p), ISBN
978-0-9844079-9-6
www.Kusikiy.com
When a constellation is missing from the
sky, Kusikiy, who lives on Lake Titicaca in
Peru, flies toward the highest peaks to ask
the Great Glacier for his help. Folk art high-
lights the islands traditions. Ages 612.
A Gift of Love.
Dr. Claus, illus. by Christopher Vassallo.
Dr. Claus Publishing. $9.99 paper (30p),
ISBN 978-1-61497-001-9
www.drclausbooks.com
A little girl goes from pajamas to pan-
cakes as she gets ready for her first day of
school on September 11, 2001.
No Money Molly:
Her Daddy Lost His Job.
Terri Creswell. Lulu.com. $24.95 hardcover
(31p), ISBN 978-1-257-99326-0
LuLu.com; (650) 592-7296
When a l i ttl e gi rl s
Daddy loses his job, she
learns how to enjoy life and
find hope through doing
things that are free. The
friend she finds along the
way has the same problems,
and they help each other.
The King of Fish.
Darrell House. Maggie Music Inc. $16.95
hardcover (32p), ISBN 978-0-615-46534-0
www.maggiemusicinc.com
Told in verse, this empowering story
of a handicapped boy and an aging king
embraces dreams and the wisdom and
strength found in the heart of a child.
Vickie Van Helsing.
Solomon J. Inkwell. Oakberry & Inkwell.
$14.95 paper (270p), ISBN 978-0-615-
44840-4
www.solomoninkwell.com
When Vickie Jenkins, 17, discovers shes
a descendant of Abraham Van Helsing, she
realizes theres a bigger monster than her
biology teacher obstructing her graduation.
What Do You Suppose?
Nora Leone, illus. by Kara Leone. Higher
Ground Press. $13.99 paper (28p), ISBN
978-0-9766062-6-0
Major retail book stores; Amazon
If animals wore clothes, would they
dress fashionably, have problems finding
their size, or simply look preposterous? This
charming tale is an adventure in imagina-
tion. Ages 2up.
Martin Mixed-Up at the Beach.
Jess Golden Linehan. Salty Pond Publishers.
$15.95 hardcover (32p), ISBN 978-0-615-
45705-5
Amazon
This picture book for beginning read-
ers shows Martin trying again and again to
stop his sisters sobs until she reaches for
the object she wanted all along: Martins
book. Linehan has worked in elementary
and school library education. Ages 35.
You Are a Twisting Tornado.
Angela Malavolti, illus. by Michael Stiff-
ler. Jungle Wagon Press. $16.99 hardcover
(28p), ISBN 978-0-9834092-0-5
www.junglewagonpress.com
Like the weather, a young childs tem-
perament can change drastically from one
moment to the next. This picture book
reminds us and our children that no matter
what the forecast, my love is yours forever.
Soccer Dreams:
Playing the Seattle Sounders FC Way.
Clare Hodgson Meeker. Creating One LLC.
$16.95 hardcover (48p), ISBN 978-0-615-
43236-6
Partners West Book Distributing; (425)
227-8486
A 10-year-old boy from Kenya moves to
Seattle and helps his coach build a winning
soccer team. B&w illustrations for the story
are accompanied by color photographs and
profiles of the Major League Soccer team
Seattle Sounders.
Secret of the Scarab.
Jay Roudebush. Lulu.com. $9 paper (143p),
ISBN 978-0-615-53001-7
Lulu.com
An 11-year-old British schoolboy
orphaned by the 1918 influenza epidemic
is given an ancient Egyptian talisman that
leads him on an astonishing adventure from
England to Egypt.
Christmas Village.
Jack Gilhooly. McNeil
and Richards. $9.95
paper (92p), ISBN 978-
0-9825602-1-1
Amazon; Barnes and
Noble
When Amanda, 9, and Rudy, 6, visit
their grandparents for Christmas, some-
thing magical happens when they play with
their grandfathers miniature Christmas vil-
lage. They shrink into the village and dis-
cover they have a whole new life there, where
Christmas is celebrated as it used to be.
Camellia the Fabulous Flower Girl.
Lynelle Woolley. Markelle Media. $16.99
hardcover (32p), ISBN 978-0-9833116-2-1
www.flowergirlworld.com
Camellia discovers friendship and fun
when she learns to share the spotlight and
walk down the aisle with two other fabulous
flower girls in this charming picture book
addition to the Flower Girl World Web site.
Ages 48.
Juvenile NonFiction Portrait of a Girl
and Her Art.
Elena Caravela. Lulu.com. $25.47 paper
(81p), ISBN 978-0-578-08965-2
Lulu.com; portraitofagirlandherart.word-
press.com
This book of photo-
graphs of young women
and the art they have
made illustrates the
empowering, transfor-
mative, and joyful value
of making visual art.
Through peer questions
and examples, it invites young people to
immerse themselves in critical and creative
thinking. Ages 717.
Flaked Out:
The Story of Cod and Newfoundland.
C.H. Colman. CreateSpace. $9.99 paper
(33p), ISBN 978-1-4538-5662-8
Amazon
A stamp collector since age five, Colman
uses postage stamps to illus-
trate historic events as he tells
the history of Newfoundland and cod fish-
ing, from the days of the Beothucks 2,000
ye a r s a go t hr ough
European exploration
and overfishing of cod
in the 20th century
to their repopulation
today; includes factual
back matter as well as a
bibliography.
The Adventures of Fluff the Wonder
Bear and His Discoveries About Health
and Fitness.
Maureen E. Lupton, illus. by Isabela Nadal.
Vantage Press. $13.95 paper (52p), ISBN
978-0-533-16491-2
Amazon; Barnes & Noble
Maureen Lupton, a registered nurse, takes
seven-year-old Caspian and Fluff, his bear, on
adventures that teach them fitness, nutri-
tion, and how good it feels to be healthy.
LAW
The Law School Decision Game:
A Playbook for Prospective Lawyers.
Ann Levine. Abraham Publishing. $15.95
paper (241p), ISBN 978-0-9838453-0-0
www.lawschoolexpertbook.com
Whether youre considering law school
or are already committed, this work by a law
school admissions consultant explains what
lawyers do, how to choose a specialization,
how to find the right law job, and what to con-
sider before taking on a load of student debt.
MUSIC
Musician! A Practical Guide for Stu-
dents, Music Lovers, Amateurs, Pro-
fessionals, Superstars, Wannabees, and
Has-Beens
Dan Wilensky. CreateSpace. $15 paper
(156p), ISBN 978-1-4528-5771-8
Amazon
Wilensky tells neo-
phytes how to become a
musician, musicians how
to advance, and established
players how to nurture
their creativity, based on
his own life playing jazz,
funk, rock, and folk. He has
played with more than 250
artists, including Ray Charles, Santana, and
Madonna.
NONCLASSIFIABLE
Haunted Watauga County.
Tim Bullard. The History Press of Charles-
ton. $19.99 paper (128p), ISBN 978-1-
60949-215-1
Barnes & Noble; Amazon; Books-A-Million
Just as the Blue Ridge Mountains dot
the landscape of this famed North Carolina
county, so do the spirits of the residents who
have died.
Sitting with Warrior.
Carl Hitchens. iUniverse. $13.95 paper
(180p), ISBN 978-1-4502-7631-3
iUniverse
Hitchens takes a journey that brings him
to the Native American Warrior and, in
weaving memoir, history, and myth, builds
an expos of Americas Vietnam War era in
hopes of healing Americas old wounds.
Last Laughs:
A Pocketful of Wry for the Aging.
Everett Mattlin. Two Harbors. $14.95
paper (207p), ISBN 978-1-936401-34-5
everettmattlin.com; Amazon
These short humorous essays about grow-
ing older include lighthearted treatment
of topics like oldster grumpiness, travel
travails, hateful diets and exercise, endless
doctor appointments; from the author of a
dozen nonfiction books.
NONFICTION
Paul of Tarsus: A Study of the Man, His
Role in History, and His Parallel Lives.
Allan B. Burdick. Vantage Press. $17.95
paper (105p), ISBN 978-0-533-16387-8
An emeritus professor of genetics inves-
tigates the life of Paul, tracing his life, trav-
els, and work, and argues that Luke was
actually Pauls alter ego, in effect creating a
parallel life for Paul.
Eating an Elephant: Write Your Life One
Bite at a Time.
Patricia Charpentier. Life Story Publish-
ing. $16.95 paper
(163p), ISBN 978-
0-9832382-3-2
www.writingyour-
life.org
Eating an Elephant
hel ps you br eak
down the elephant-
sized task of putting your life on paper into
quick, easy-to-understand bites. The author
is a journalist and writing instructor, and
has ghost-written many memoirs.
Nine Lives: Nine Cases Histories
Reflecting the Human Condition.
Newell Fischer, M.D. Vantage Press. $19.95
paper (133p), ISBN 978-0-533-16331-8
Amazon
Henry is sleepwalking through his life;
Mary feels constantly unfulfilled; Sara is afraid
she will kill her infant. A psychiatrist and psy-
choanalyst describes the psychoanalytic treat-
ment of nine patients, revealing their shared
humanity and each ones struggle with his or
her particular anguish and conflict.
Life: The Way It Was.
Betty Sherwood Genter. Vantage Press.
$13.95 paper (80p), ISBN 978-0-533-16389-2
Amazon
Having grown up on a farm in upstate
New York in the 1940s, the author details
that life: The Thorpes had a huge cream
separator in their kitchen.... Sometimes I
was allowed to turn the crank handle....
Fred would hire Bill Gaylord or anyone else
with a truck to take his lambs to the train
station [where] the sheep and lambs were
loaded on the train and shipped to Buffalo
for slaughter.
Undisputed: Notre Dame, National
Champions 1966.
Mark O. Hubbard. Vantage Press. $26.95
16512-4
Amazon
Focusing on the Notre Dame national
championship team of 1966 and specifi-
cally on the 1010 tie with Michigan State,
Hubbard recounts the game and the lives of
many of the players and coaches behind the
scenes, adding significantly to the debate
over whether this is the greatest college
football game ever played.
Letters from My Sister:
On Love, Life and Hair Removal.
Eve Lederman with Faye Lederman. Squeeze
the Stone Press. $12 paper (205p), ISBN
978-0-9753466-0-0
Amazon
A collection of correspondence between
sisters, one in Chicago, the other in New
York, shares their offbeat urban escapades
and musings while lovingly ridiculing every-
one in their path over the course of a year.
Insanity: Beyond Understanding.
Bajeerao R. Patil. Eloquent Books. $17.50
paper (347p), ISBN 978-1-60976-098-4
www.bajeeraopatil.com; (610) 457 7640
Drug and alcohol counselor Patil
describes the gripping yet brutal stories of
his clients: entertaining, hilarious, insight-
ful, sad, and thought-provoking. Patil
explores how some are able to break the
cycle of addiction while others cannot.
The Tucson Trag-
edy: Lessons from the
Senseless Shooting of
Gabrielle Giffords.
John Newport. Out-
skirts Press Inc. $16.95
paper (174p), ISBN
978-1-4327-7607-7
www.healingtucson.net
Newport, a social activist, writer, and resi-
dent of Tucson, presents a riveting account of
the human side of the January 8, 2011, shoot-
ing of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords
and 18 others, the aftermath, and lessons to
be learned.
Turning It Around: Redirectional Therapy.
Sidney M. Rosen, M.S.W., Ph.D., and Deb-
orah L.K. Spencer-Chun, M.S.W. Vantage
Press. $18.95 paper (217p), ISBN 978-0-
533-16490-5
Amazon
Adult Friends of Youth, in Honolulu,
works with gang members and at-risk youth
to reduce substance abuse and violence. Two
staff members of AFY describe their suc-
cessful program, the principles underlying
it, and how it has helped change the behav-
iors of 30 gangs.
Shoestring Reporter:
How I Got to Be a Big City Reporter.
Joel Thurtell. Hardalee Press. $25 paper
(227p), ISBN 978-0-9759969-3-5
Amazon; joelontheroad.com
Thurtell has been a newspaper reporter
for more than 30 years and taught journal-
ism, yet he never went to J School. He dem-
onstrates how any literate person, with hard
work and street smarts, can be a professional
reporter without paying for a college jour-
nalism degree.
Respecting Autism:
The Rebecca Schools DIR Casebook
for Parents and Professionals.
Stanley I. Greenspan, M.D., and Gil Tippy,
Psy.D. Vantage Press. $19.95 paper (228p),
ISBN 978-0-533-16454-7
Amazon
The Rebecca School for autistic children
in Manhattan uses the DIR program devel-
oped by Dr. Greenspan, focused on develop-
mental levels, the uniqueness of individual
children, and relationships. This casebook,
by Greenspan and the schools clinical direc-
tor, describes how the school came into exis-
tence and how its program works.
PHILOSOPHY
Homage to Stretcher Bearer.
Gideon Tolkowsky. Inkwater Press. $20.95
paper (258p), ISBN 978-1-59299-457-1
inkwaterbooks.com; Amazon
The books subtitle,
The Human Oscillation
Between Two Sensations
of Oneness, refers to two
feelings, one Eastern,
the other Western. The
author, founder of a ven-
ture capital firm, claims
that both perceptions, oneness in a whole and
intellectual individualism, are essential for
our complete humanity.
POETRY
142 Short Stories...as Poems That
Inspire, Entertain and Enlighten.
Dr. Ed Pahl. Vantage Press. $23.95 hard-
cover (304p), ISBN
978-0-533-16422-6
Amazon
Inspired by his own
ordinary and extraor-
dinary life experiences,
Pahl strives to convey a
wide range of emotions
in a compilation of witty, insightful, and
sometimes nostalgic verse.
Alone: For All Those Who Grieve.
W.F. (Bill) Cento. Tasora Books. $14.95
paper (104p), ISBN 978-1-934690-49-9
Amazon; (800) 901-3480, ext. 118
Newspaper editor Cento cared for his
wife, who had Alzheimers. In this collec-
tion of poems and prose, he lucidly pres-
ents the stages of coping with the strain of
caregiving, and the grief and healing after a
loved one dies.
Mosaics of Understanding: Poems.
E. Milton Scott. Vantage Press. $22.95 hard-
cover (280p), ISBN 978-0-533-16418-9
Amazon
Scott writes of his
third book of poetry
May you share with
me these poems and
gain thoughts and ideas
which may be consid-
ered, not to convince or
influence, but rather, for meditation, as I
have used it.
Sirens Song: Livre dArtiste Facsimile.
Elisabeth Stevens. BrickHouse Books. $18
paper (85p), ISBN 978-1-935916-03-1
Itascabooks.com
This collection of 48 erotic and imaginative
poems and 13 original copperplate etchings is
a facsimile of the original artwork published
in a limited edition of 20 by Stevens, who has
published several works of fiction and poetry
as well as art catalogues and monographs.
The Brewing Storm:
An Erotic Poetic Storytelling.
Catrilia Watson. Lulu.com. $15 paper
(234p), ISBN 978-0-557-66211-1
Amazon; Lulu.com
A collection of individual erotic poems
about a woman torn between
two lovers as she discovers
unabashed love while uncovering the pas-
sionate nature of her soul.
POLITICAL SCIENCE
The Managed Healthcare Industry:
A Market Failure.
J a c k Cha r l e s Sc hoe nhol t z , M. D.
CreateSpace. $82.95 paper (495p), ISBN
978-1-4392-8061-4
Amazon; BN.com
A clinical professor of
psychiatry and behav-
ioral sciences at New
York Medical College
takes a comprehen-
sive look at Americas
healthcare crisis. His
extensi ve research-
based account of the complex present-day
American healthcare system diagnoses the
systemic problems and presents an effective
course of treatment in his call for adequate
health care for all.
Adamant Aggressors: How to
Recognize and Deal with Them.
Bruce D. Thatcher. Xlibris. $19.99 paper
(353p), ISBN 978-1-4628-9193-1
Xlibris; (888) 795-4274
A business executive takes a business
case-study approach to several historical fig-
ures he identifies as having obsessions with
power and inflexible goals with the intent
of illustrating the benefits of this approach
in dealing with foreign policy and possible
threats to America today.
RELIGION
Blind Faith?
J. Mark Gibson. Vantage Press. $8.95 paper
(39p), ISBN 978-0-533-16262-8
Amazon
Gibson reviews
Bi bl e transl ati ons
from the King James
a nd Ne w Li v i ng
Transl ati on to the
Ampl i f i e d Bi bl e
( AMP) , e xa mi ne s
their discrepancies
and rami f i cati ons,
and formulates a concordance
based on contextual clarity. He
addresses such questions as what is the name
of God; what is the meaning of the cross; and
how to conduct an active inner conversation
with the Divinity.
Who Is God and Who Are You?
Steven Towers. Vantage Press. $15.95 paper
(268p), ISBN 978-0-533-16392-2
Amazon
In his efforts to spread the good news about
God and Mother Nature, former steelworker
Towers offers a new book of spiritual awaken-
ing as he attempts to explain who God is and
who we are.
Godmine: A Memoir of Costly Obedi-
ence to God Told Through My Poems,
Lyrics and Thoughts.
Elizabeth Christopher. Elizabeth Chris-
topher. $14.99 paper (95p), ISBN 978-0-
9711976-5-7
www.godmine-online.com; Amazon
A compilation of original poems, lyr-
ics, and thoughts reflecting a three-year
journey with the lord.
SCIENCE
Love, Sex, and Mush-
rooms.
Cardy Raper. Cardy
Raper. $18.95 paper
(254p), ISBN 978-0-
615-43440-7
Rapers memoir delineates a convoluted
life balancing wifehood and motherhood with
a career in the male-dominated profession of
molecular biology during the 20th century.
Politics As If Evolution Mattered:
Darwin, Ecology & Social Justice.
Lorna Salzman. iUniverse. $9.95 paper
(78p), ISBN 978-1-4620-3475-8
iUniverse
Salzman, an environmentalist and activ-
ist, gathers authoritative information on the
intersection of evolution with human social
and political systems to illustrate how human
decisions have harmed the environment, and
how that process can be reversed.
SELF-HELP
Letters to a Prisoner:
A Survivor Speaks Out.
Connie D. Create Space. $12.95 paper
(100p), ISBN 978-1-4564-0536-6
Amazon
The mother of a meth addict son in prison
offers poems and letters as she learns to
confront the demons of addiction and stop
being an enabler.
Alpha Chick: Five
Steps for Moving from
Pain to Power.
Mal Duane. Alpha Chick
Press. $16.95 paper
(304p), ISBN 978-0-
9834129-0-8
Amazon; alphachick.com
Through revealing her own success over-
coming alcoholism, Duane offers a model
and roadmap to happiness, success, and
fulfillment by sharing her own story and
promoting a five-step process.
Get a Life After College:
A Starter Kit for Life on Your Own.
Marilyn McGreen Hotz. Xlibris. $15.99
paper (93p), ISBN 978-1-4653-4004-7
Amazon; marilynhotz.com
Plenty of books tell you how to get into
college. This one tells you how to get into
life after college, including how to find a
great place to live, furnish on a tight budget,
cook like a pro, save and spend wisely, and
most important, enjoy your own company.
Frumpy to Fabulous: Flaunting It:
Your Ultimate Guide to Effortless Style.
Natalie Jobity. lan Image Manage-
ment. $18.95 paper (236p), ISBN 978-0-
9829297-0-4
Amazon; www.elanimagemanagement.com
The president of lan Image Management
guides readers in developing their authen-
tic style and image to
achieve their goals,
whether at work or play,
with help in filling their
closets with the right
accessories, choosing
colors, and dressing for
their body type.
Making the Moment Meaningful: Creat-
ing a Path to Purpose and Fulfillment.
Dana LaMon. ImageWorth. $19.95 paper
(226p), ISBN 978-0-9656633-1-1
www.danalamon.com
A blind African-American retired judge
in California, now a motivational speaker
and Toastmasters International world
champion of public speaking, shares inspi-
rational stories and practical advice to lead
readers to a life of purpose and meaning.
55+ Unite!
Welcome All Wise Working Women.
Georgian Lussier. CreateSpace. $11.99
paper (136p), ISBN 978-1-4664-1112-8
Amazon; hrhelp.squarespace.com
A human resources consultant for many
years urges women 55 and older who want,
or need, to work, to celebrate their midlife
strengths through sharing resources, net-
working, remembering their achievements,
and relying on friends.
Living Life Dying Death:
A Guide to Healthy Conversations.
Jennifer Collins Taylor. MyRehab LLC.
$19.99 hardcover (64p), ISBN 978-0-
9679887-9-5
www.livinglifedyingdeath.com
This Next Generation Indie Book Award
winner by a hospice social worker and speaker
is a call to action to find the courage, comfort,
and confidence to have conversations about
death and dying. Taylors overarching message
is that we embrace living well and dying well.
SOCIAL SCIENCE
The Digitally Divided Self: Relinquish-
ing Our Awareness to the Internet.
Ivo Quartiroli. Silens. $17.90 paper (274p),
ISBN 978-88-97233-00-8
Amazon; www.indranet.org
An Italian programmer and publisher
of books on technology and spirituality
explores the intersection of media studies,
psychology, and spiritual-
ity to elucidate how we
lose human experience and
inner exploration as we suc-
cumb to obsessions with the
Internets incessant flow of
information.
Reviews
Fiction
A Better Man
Audrey Lynn. Audrey Lynn, $17.95 trade paper
(404p) ISBN 978-0-615-44968-5
Lynns debut proves an intense, emo-
tional, and stunning exploration into the
psychological horrors of war. After the de-
cade-long Soviet war with Afghanistan,
Vladimir Verstakov returns to the
U.S.S.R., the sole survivor of a convoy at-
tack. His memories are vivid and painful,
and the slightest sound can trigger a
flashback. Skillfully weaving Vladimirs
memories into the narrative, Lynn enables
readers to go through the pain Vladimir
feels on a daily basis. His loving wife,
Vhanna, fears for both her husband and
herself, as his violent outbursts begin to
drastically alter their lives. After speaking
to another veteran, Vladimir becomes fix-
ated on finding an Iskra: a purpose in
life or something to believe in. Lynn me-
ticulously unravels the raw emotions of
post-traumatic stress disorder and the
massive destruction war inflicts not only
on soldiers but also on their family and
friends. Vladimir and Vhanna are sympa-
thetic, true-to-life, well-crafted charac-
ters. And Lynn does a spectacular job cre-
ating a novel to which all readers will be
able to relate.
The Arranger
L.J. Sellers. Spellbinder Press (www.ljsellers.
com), $13.99 trade paper (264p) ISBN 978-0-
9832138-5-7
Set in 2023, this middling stand-alone
futuristic thriller from Sellers (Dying for
Justice) paints an America in which eco-
nomic woes are wedded to reality televi-
sion via the Gauntlet: a contest in which
representatives from all 50 states compete
for prize money by undertaking a series of
physical and mental tasks. Before repre-
senting Oregon in the Gauntlet, cop-
turned-paramedic Lara Evans treats a
gunshot victim who
turns out to be federal
employment commis-
sioner Thaddeus Mor-
ton. The mystery of his
assailants identity is
back-burnered for
much of the book, as
Sellers alternates be-
tween Evanss quest for victory and the
machinations of sleazy software engineer
Paul Madsen, who hopes to parlay his ac-
cess to personnel databases into bribes.
Despite the books fascinating premise,
Sellers fails to deliver much originality.
The contests in the Gauntlet arent par-
ticularly imaginative; none of the plot
twists are compelling; and readers will
find maintaining interest an ongoing, and
ultimately unsuccessful, struggle.
The Case of the Missing Cobras
Kathy Kaye. CreateSpace (www.createspace.
com), $16.50 trade paper (452p) ISBN
978-1-4537-2506-1
A former managing editor at the
American Medical Association, Kaye does
a superior job of making illegal traffick-
ing in venomous snakes an intriguing
premise in this solid contemporary thrill-
er. The mysterious
decimation of wild
king cobras in Thai-
land leads that coun-
trys prime minister to
believe that unscrupu-
lous American collec-
tors have played a large
part in smuggling out the valuable rep-
tiles. That in turn, leads the special opera-
tions unit of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service to launch an undercover opera-
tion. A young and untested agent, Johnny
Lee, is sent to infiltrate a community of
collectors in Virginia, despite her lack of
experience with snakes. Lee proves will-
ing to go beyond the playbook to main-
tain her cover, in a manner that the au-
thor renders plausible. But the stakes get
raised when one of her targets is killed by
his venomous specimens. Making the
chapters fly by despite the books length
is an achievement, as is Kayes willingness
to respect her audiences intelligence by
not wrapping up everything neatly or
making obvious plot choices.
The Color of Heaven
Julianne MacLean as E.V. Mitchell. Blue
Ocean (www.blueoceanpublishing.biz),
$13.99 trade paper (314p) ISBN 978-0-
9868422-2-1
Sophie Duncan leads a charmed exis-
tence: loving husband Michael, great ca-
reer, and beautiful
daughter, Megan. But
all of that comes to a
halt when her little
daughter is diagnosed
with leukemia. Michael becomes distant
as their daughters illness progresses and,
after Megan dies, reveals he has been hav-
ing an affair with a younger woman who
is pregnant with his child. Sophie is dev-
astated and her depression results in a ter-
rible car accident. As she lies dying, So-
phie has a spiritual experience: she meets
her mother, whom she always thought
abandoned her, and comes to terms with
her family history. Awakening from her
coma recommitted to life, Sophie discov-
ers her high school sweetheart waiting for
her in the hospital room. They marry,
have a little boy, and live happily ever af-
ter. MacLean (writing under the pen name
Mitchell) has a deal of experience writing
romance novels and that sensibility is ap-
parent on every page. There is a great deal
of epic love, crushing emotions, and, sad-
ly, simplistic resolutions. Mitchell knows
her audience and her craft, and she han-
dles both well, but with a lack of imagi-
nation.
Destined: A Novel of the Tarot
Gail Cleare. CreateSpace (www.createspace.
com), $12 trade paper (352p) ISBN 978-1-
4610-0776-0
Each chapter of this unassuming novel
is illustrated with a card from the tarot,
and the contents of each section are loose-
ly related to the meaning of the corre-
sponding card. Cleares narrative follows
Emily, a young woman on a path of self-
realization and awakening. She quits her
unpleasant art gallery job and begins
working at a mysterious rare-book store,
whose owner, the eccentric Mr. Paradis,
encourages her to explore her own psychic
powers. Emily makes a new group of fe-
male friends in the neighborhood and
meets a tall, dark and very handsome
stranger, with whom romance seems sure
to bloom. The story is a little slow mov-
ing, and there isnt much in the way of
conflict; nevertheless, the novel is well
plotted. Readers already interested in the
tarot and its uses for divination will enjoy
Cleares serious meditations on the mean-
ings of the cards, and the
way the tarot plays out in
Emilys life. Whats more,
Cleare offers a little bit of
self-help and a little bit of chick lit, pack-
aged together with a positive, make-your-
own-destiny message: a pleasant, comfort-
ing read.
Fire in the Henhouse
Frances Grote. Rule Bender Press (www.rule-
benderpress.com), $19.95 trade paper
(474p) ISBN 978-0-9833341-0-1
In Grotes debu t, widowed New Yorker
Maggiewith her teen son in towrelo-
cates to her hometown of Dooleysburg,
Pa., a move that triggers memories of
abuse and mental illness. Amid encoun-
ters with frequently winsome characters
(an Irish nanny, a com-
parative anthropology
professor, a local deli
owner, and the police
chief), Maggie discov-
ers the extent to which
she has excluded people
from her life, while an
act of public violence
causes simpler problems to shrink in im-
portance. Fans of large casts replete with
eccentric and memorable locals will ap-
preciate Grotes novel with its overlap-
ping subplots, the strongest of which em-
phasize the importance of forgiveness and
embracing the flaws of others. Clever
banter and a flair for over-the-top scenari-
os compensate for occasionally melodra-
matic confrontations and rapid emotional
denouements. A novel brewing with ten-
sion, lightened by warm humor.
The Grand Mirage
Darrell Delamaide. Barnaby Woods Books
(www.barnabywoodsbooks.com), $13.99
trade paper (304p) ISBN 978-0-9839958-0-7
In the early 1900s, scholar and Orien-
talist Lord Richard Leighton is enlisted
by the British government to travel to the
Ottoman Empire and
investigate Germanys
involvement in the
construction of a rail-
road. Almost immedi-
ately, Leightonwho
partners with Ameri-
can spy William Mor-
risonis caught be-
tween a number of factions: Germans in-
tent on preserving the secret military pur-
pose of the railroad; bankers who want
the railroad to bring trade to the region;
the Turks running the Ottoman Empire;
Arabs who want independence from the
Ottomans; and the Armenians who have
been subjugated by the Turks. Delamaide
provides a fascinating look at a little-ex-
amined period: the Great Game period
before WWI. Leighton and Morrison are
unlikely heroes (neither is particularly
physically imposing or possessed of mili-
tary prowess), and this makes them all the
more likable. However, the novels plot is
needlessly complicated, and the twists
and turns sometimes make very little
sense. Readers will find this interesting,
but not particularly memorable.
Hunt of the Sea Wolves
John E. Chadwell. CreateSpace (www.cre-
atespace.com), $10.99 trade paper (248p)
ISBN 978-1-4637-6687-0
When terrorists commandeer a vessel
shipping spent nuclear material, four
brothers launch separate attacks against
the West. After a cruise ship is destroyed
by a nuclear weapon, the Department of
Homeland Security puts together a team
to stop the remaining three brothers.
Chadwells debutwith its abundance of
brutal but beautiful fight scenes and ex-
cessive historical and political exposi-
tionis hampered by a lack of coherence
and an underdeveloped narrative arc. The
author is unafraid to show death from the
gritty perspective of the dying and, as a
veteran of the U.S. Navy, his knowledge
of the subject adds tremendous detail and
creditability. However, Chadwell fails to
produce nuanced characters, and his at-
tempts to give them emotional depth
come across as halfhearted and read more
like addendums. Unfortunately, the well-
choreographed action sequences fail to ad-
equately mask the barren emotional land-
scape, indulgent exposition, and uncon-
nected plot lines.
Jane of the Jungle
Jane Baskin. iUniverse (www.iuniverse.com),
$16.95 trade paper (248p) ISBN 978-1-4620-
0292-4
In Baskins comic debut, Jane, a
60-year-old widow and former nurse, is
offered $30,000 to fly a plane to Mexico
with mobster and Air
Force veteran John. To-
gether the unlikely
duo poses as a tourist
couple and, in a time-
honored twist, fall in
love while completing
their assignment. Gun-
fights, turf rivalries, kidnapping, a ro-
mantic interlude in Cozumel, and a faked
death all combine with rapid-fire narra-
tion to create an engaging yet sometimes
meandering tale. Subplots about the ag-
ing process, an encounter with a sentient
Siberian tiger, and the impulsive purchase
of a roadhouse complicate this novel of
second chances and spiritual self-exami-
nation. While scenes featuring a talking
fox, a flying bus, and familiar character
types (e.g., bumbling henchmen) often
seem excessive, Baskin presents an enter-
taining search for magic in the under-
world that concludes with a spot-on as-
sessment of peoples need to reconcile past
lives with future promises.
Jokers Club
Gregory Bastianelli. JournalStone (www.jour-
nalstone.com), $11.95 trade paper (202p)
ISBN 978-1-936564-30-9
A failed writer reunites with a group of
former childhood miscreants in order to
clear his troubled conscience in this neat-
ly sewn-up horror tale.
Geoffrey Thorn,
30-something, single,
employed at a textbook
company, and newly
diagnosed with a brain
tumor, returns to the
picturesque New Eng-
land town of Malton
for a gathering of the Jokers Club, a band
of local boys who used to play pranks such
as removing corpses from the cemetery
and putting bubble bath in the municipal
fountain. But when the boys were 12,
they went too far, punishing a new mem-
ber by locking him in an abandoned re-
frigerator for the night. The results were
lamentable, but no one ever discovered
the truth. Now grown men, the groups
members reconvene at a local inn and are
picked off one by one by a murderer. Bas-
tianelli does an excellent job of creating
distinct identities for the former members
of the Jokers Club. However, some of the
R E V I E W S
books ominous details (e.g., Shadow
Drive; a funeral director named Mr. Un-
der) are merely corny. Overall, the work is
as tidy as the town and as pat as a familiar
horror film.
Meeting the Business: Journal I
Hollie Delaney. AuthorHouse (www.author-
house.com), $25.99 (308p) ISBN 978-1-4567-
4511-0
Victoria Hamilton is satisfied with her
life. She owns a successful real estate com-
pany, and has a beautiful condo and chil-
dren who are grown up
and on their own. But
without warning, a
strange man begins ap-
pearing everywhere she
goes. Whether shes on
the street or in the li-
brary, Victoria sudden-
ly sees a long-haired
man mysteriously staring back at her. But
when the man enlists Victoria to help him
purchase a home worth millions, they be-
comes caught up in a passionate affair.
The truth behind the animal attraction is
far more fantastic than the buttoned-
down businesswoman could have imag-
ined: the couple have been lovers for 700
years. In this debut novel, Delaney uses
her knowledge of the real estate business
to develop a well-plotted story. However,
the book alternates often between scenes
rooted in reality and scenes that depict an
alternate reality, and while this juxtaposi-
tion can be appreciated, it is also surpris-
ing and often jarring. The novel would
have benefited from more realism and less
paranormality.
Memoirs of a Eurasian
Vivian Yang. CreateSpace (www.createspace.
4610-1341-9
In 1944, a young Chinese teenager falls
in love with a Russian exile in Shanghai.
She dies in childbirth, leaving an or-
phaned girl, who in
turn becomes pregnant
as a teenager and gives
birth to a daughter
named Mo Mo. Even as
a child, Mo Mo is en-
trancing and exotic be-
cause of her Russian
heritage, but she is also
mistrusted for the same reason. Mo Mo
travels from Shanghai to Hong Kong and
back again during and after the Cultural
Revolution and through Chinas economic
reforms, along the way grappling with
both racial prejudice and a strained rela-
tionship with her mother. This latest nov-
el from Yang (Shanghai Girl) is an engag-
ing exploration of a world unknown to
most Westerners. Yang navigates Hong
Kong and the insular Chinese world of
Shanghai with equal ease, convincingly
charting Mo Mos life from childhood to
adolescence and adulthood. And while
Mo Mo isnt always likable, she always of-
fers a unique perspective. Readers will
find this fascinating novel very enjoyable
and readable.
Murder in Vienna
Irene Wittig. LuLu (www.lulu.com), $19.50
trade paper (214p) ISBN 978-1-105-09426-2
The authorsambitious scopethe
book spans five decadesisnt matched
by her execution in this unwieldy histori-
cal novel with a few
mystery elements. In
the waning months of
WWII, Polly Huber
loses her two closest
friends. First, Helene
Grnbaum goes out to
run an errand and never
returns; shes abducted
by someone driving a white car and found
dead shortly afterward. Then Liese Hell-
mann is killed in a train accident in the
U.S. before she can return to Vienna and
reunite with Huber. Tragedy continues to
mark Hubers life, but Wittigs failure to
imbue any of the characters with depth
will make it hard for readers to feel for
them. The action jumps abruptly from
1975 to 1988, but the lacuna makes no
difference as the story wends it way slow-
ly to revelations that most readers will an-
ticipate. The opening section, depicting a
devastated Austria trying to recover from
the Nazi regime, presents a different per-
spective than is usually portrayed, and
had the story been set there, the book
would have been greatly improved.
My Sweet Saga
Brett Sills. Admiral J Press (www.admiralj-
press.com), $16 trade paper (462p) ISBN 978-
0-615-53213-4
In Sillss novel, 30-year-
old Brandon is unfulfilled
and stuck in both a dead-end
job and a dead-end relation-
ship with Clarissa, whom he seems to
hate. Clarissa may have a hot rack, a
successful career, and a tendency to put
up with Brandons worst behavior, but she
is also, the reader is told, a moron: she lets
her Prius run out of gas, doesnt know
who Anton Chekhov is, and doesnt un-
derstand Mad Men. Readers will find it
difficult to empathize
withor even like
Brandon, particularly
when he consents to
marry Clarissa only af-
ter she agrees (finally!)
to have anal sex with
him. Despite these
shortcomings, the nov-
el is occasionally funny, with some bad
taste, offensive language, and many pairs
of pert breasts thrown in for good mea-
sure. In the end, though, its the narrators
way with words that is sure to stay with
the reader, e.g.,the girl seemed icy cold
and I figured shed be hard to handle, like
an Otter Pop on a cool summer night.
Out, Out
Kim MacQueen. Jungo (www.jungobooks.
wordpress.com), $15 trade paper (214p) ISBN
978-0-615-48182-1
The narrator of MacQueens burbling,
unorthodox love story, new mother Deb
Soloman, is overwhelmed with life at
home and ambivalent about her husband.
So she takes an administrative job at the
Southern University
Primate Language Lab,
where she falls for Dr.
Soraya Baldwin-Ruhl.
However, its not long
before Deb finds her
smoldering feelings for
Soraya affecting her
personal life. Mean-
while, Soraya is becoming increasingly
obsessed with her work and unable to un-
derstand the dangers of ape escapes and
attacksnot infrequent occurrences at
the lab. As the project takes a turn for the
worse, Deb finds her life spiraling out of
control. MacQueens past-tense narrative
robs this novel of some of its dramatic po-
tential. However, Soraya is drawn with
R E V I E W S
strong, ferocious strokes, and
the details surrounding the
primate lab are compelling
and authentic. Overall, this
novel is definitely worth a read.
Photo Shoot: A Will Porter
Mystery
Louis Barth. Vantage (www.vantagepress.
com), $14.95 trade paperback (264p) ISBN
978-0-533-16397-7
When ex-crime scene photographer
Will Porter is asked to shoot a wedding,
hes enticed by the large commission and
takes the job. Howev-
er, Will soon discovers
that this isnt a typical
ceremony: Joey, the
groom, is the son of a
Brooklyn, N.Y., mob
boss, and Laura Lee,
the bride, is the heir to
a Southern fortune. Neither family sup-
ports the marriage, and hits have been or-
dered against both bride and groom.
Barths characters are pure stereotypes:
the well-armed men are stupidly violent
and the women are sex objects. When
first meeting the bride and maid of honor,
Will remarks, I consider Gina built for
comfort, Laura Lee was definitely built for
speed. Lily, a sexually precocious teenag-
er, was molested by her father when she
was 11, but her family explains that she
enjoyed it and blame her for the nearly
constant aggressive male attention she re-
ceives. Despite Will being a self-de-
scribed pudgy, balding 60-year-old,
young, attractive women throw them-
selves at him. Barths novel is at best a
dull mystery and at worst offensive and
distasteful.
The Prospect of My Arrival
Dwight Okita. CreateSpace (www.createspace.
4609-5989-3
Prospect, so named, he tells us, because
people have high
hopes for me, has a lot
on his young shoulders.
As the embryonic star
of the Pre-born Proj-
ect, a scientific ven-
ture funded by Big
Farm Technologies, he
has three weeks to pre-
view the world before deciding if he
wants to be born. To help in his decision,
Prospect gets to meet five people: his
mother; a happy person; someone who
wishes he were never born; etc. Despite
his in-embryo tutoring from the Cyber-
Savant, Prospect (incarnated on Earth in
a borrowed 20-year-old body) is a naf,
and much of the book consists of people
explaining things to him: the project,
adoption, empathy, the wonder that is
coffee, the wonder that is sex, the com-
plexities of love. For real-world readers,
many of these narratives are less than new.
Meanwhile, everyone Prospect meets has
an agendaand Okita, busily planting
all kinds of improbable scenarios and life
lessons in Prospects path, is, unfortunate-
ly, no exception. At the end, when Pros-
pect makes his decision, its hard to care;
hes sweet, but his pre-born experience
seems a little too prefab.
Public Information
Rolf Margenau. Frogworks (www.frogworks.
4581-7478-9
Wylie Cypher is a young man who joins
the army during the Korean War, intent
on becoming a Russian translator and
avoiding combat. However, as he proves to
be a superior marks-
man, Wylie gets sent to
Korea. Once there, he
catches a lucky break
and becomes a journal-
ist, writing mostly col-
or pieces: propaganda
to give comfort to the
soldiers and their fami-
lies at home. While in Korea, Wylie falls
in love with a young American, Amelia,
who is doing work at an orphanage. How-
ever, she dies in a fire, and Wylie returns
home, sadder and wiser. Margenau clearly
has some experience of the Korean War, for
the sense of place he creates is strong and
true. He also ably fleshes out his support-
ing characters and brings the disparate ele-
ments of his plot to a satisfactory conclu-
sion. However, surprisingly little happens
to Wylie in this war novel: hes a marks-
man who hardly sees battle and a journalist
who never confronts difficult truths. And
while this may be an accurate depiction of
life inside Korea after the armistice, it
doesnt make for a compelling read.
Rain
Leigh K. Cunningham. Vivante Publishing
(www.leighkcunningham.com), $12.95 trade
paper (316p) ISBN 978-981-08-8280-8
The Wallins are a wealthy and influen-
tial family in the small Australian town of
Maine. After eldest daughter Helena mar-
ries Michael Baden, a local boy from the
wrong side of the tracks, things begin to
go poorly for the Wallin family. The mill
that is their livelihood burns down in a
fire; the insurance that should have pro-
tected them was never mailed; and the
family loses everything. This tragedy is
followed by more sorrow: death, demen-
tia, adultery, drug use, more death, rape,
and cancer. Cunninghams sprawling epic
covers four decades and three generations.
However, the books many characters nev-
er prove particularly interesting. Horrible
things happen to them, but they dont
rise to the occasion or even fail in dramat-
ic ways. Cunninghams prose is also un-
necessarily flowery and descriptive, quali-
ties that dont mesh with the starkness of
her narrative. Overall, this is a slow slog
of a tale, and readers will wonder why
they bothered.
Red Right Return: A Buck Reilly
Adventure
John H. Cunningham. Wheatmark (www.
wheatmark.com), $15.95 trade paper (316p)
ISBN 978-1-60494-704-5
Cunninghams winning debut, a mod-
ern-day thriller with a Key West hero,
will make readers welcome the prospect
of additional Buck Reilly adventures.
Reilly has come down in the world since
the failure of e-Antiquity, his Internet
auction site; instead of gracing the cover
of the Wall Street Journal, he now strug-
gles to run his new business, Last Resort
Charter and Salvage. His relatively sedate
life is unexpectedly upended after he gets
$500 to deliver an attractive woman to a
ship at sea. Hes then hired to locate three
missing members of a church delegation
en route to Cuba, who were lost at sea in a
storm earlier that day. The writing is
crisp and punchy, making this suitable for
a one-sitting read. Cunningham flavors
the pot with stolen treasure maps, Sante-
ria, and run-ins with the FBI. The satisfy-
ing ending demonstrates that Cunning-
ham knows how to keep track of all the
balls hes thrown in the air.
R E V I E W S
Safely Buried
John Pesta. CreateSpace (www.create space.
4563-4447-4
Smalltown newspaper editor Phil Lar-
rison picks up a hitchhiker and agrees to
drive to her friends house, where they
soon find a pair of corpses rotting in a
bathroom. This discovery leads Phil to
launch an investigation that reveals a
larger mystery with higher stakes and
far-reaching implications. Pesta moves
his plot forward
adeptly, if slowly, and
the books final reve-
lation is a surprise.
However, the au-
thors characters
particularly Larri-
sonare unconvinc-
ing and hampered by unbelievable dia-
logue and incongruous actions. But what
truly sinks this mystery is Pestas prose,
e.g., My stomach, intestines, pancreas
and gall bladder felt squashed from sit-
ting at the desk; My eyes felt stiff, like
dried-out meringue. Perhaps Pesta was
aiming to create a hard-boiled hero, but,
as with the rest of his endeavor, he was
not successful.
Search
Jan Widgery. Mystery Bay Press (www.mystery-
baypress.com), $19.50 trade paper (260p)
ISBN 978-1-257-93970-1
After the death of her foster mother,
Chris McMannknown as Judy Viereck
in her childhoodbegins to search for
the mother she lost when she was kid-
napped by her abusive father as a young
child, in Widgerys latest. Alternating be-
tween Chriss present search for her family
and reminiscences about her troubled
childhood, the books tone shifts awk-
wardly between the stark and the melo-
dramatic. Additionally, the relationship
that adult Chriswho fails to grow emo-
tionally throughout the novelbegins
with Jim Hochstedder is stilted, forced,
and develops far too quickly, given that
Chris, in the name of self-preservation,
has always eschewed intimacy. Widgery
makes a show of dealing with childhood
trauma and sexual abuse without truly in-
vestigating the depth or intricacies of ei-
ther.
The Shadow of the Staff: A Wiz-
ards Revenge
M.A. Haddad. Vantage (www.vantagepress.
533-16111-9
A grammatical catastrophe, Haddads
underdeveloped and monotonous debut
borrows heavily from Tolkien, creating a
cast of characters reminiscent of the deni-
zens of Middle Earthbut lacking any
real depth and sharing an awkward voice:
It is like I am beginning a new chapter
in my life and that a great adventure
awaits me; A warrior you are; etc.
When Burton Brew, the hobbit-like pro-
tagonist, is taken to the Elf city of Fal-
lquint to celebrate his ancestors role in
the defeat of evil wizard Porttia hundreds
of years earlier, his life changes. An army
of Orcs is again terrorizing the land, and
its up to Burton to use the mysterious
powers and battle skills he suddenly de-
velops to deliver a message from Elf king
Mindeloria to the dwarves of the Mystic
Mountains, urging them to abandon their
homes and join the battle. Haddads over-
ly simplistic prose relies heavily on clich
while offering minimal descriptions of
characters and setting.
Tree Soldier
J.L. Oakley. CreateSpace (www.createspace.
4538-9647-1
This vigorously researched historical
novel set during the Great Depression
tracks the life of the leader of a Civilian
Conservation Corps group working in
the forests of Washington State. John
Park Hardesty heads a motley band of
teens thrust into road and construction
work. But unlike his crew, Hardesty,
while college educated, is fairly familiar
with hard work. Breaking in his squad at
Camp Kulshan, Hardesty must also con-
front his past while falling for the fetch-
ing, independent-minded local natural-
ist Kate Alford, with whomafter she
saves his life in the
foresthe shares his
shameful family se-
cret: after a terrible ar-
gument with his
brother that resulted
in a car accident,
Hardesty was cast out
of his family by his fa-
ther. Oakley constructs this
rugged romance with tre-
mendous care, fully develop-
ing its characters, particu-
larly the honorable Hardesty, and build-
ing moments of tension in an engaging
and entertaining novel.
You Dont Die of Love: Stories
Thomas Thonson. Exterminating Angel (www.
createspace.com), $11.99 trade paper
(254p) ISBN 978-1-4609-2874-5
Ten loosely interconnected shorts by
screenwriter Thonson reveal the insular,
sordid, and somewhat touching world of
Hollywood, its insiders, and those who
prey on them. In Western, former mov-
ie star cowboy Lee Rockwell, now the
owner of a successful clothing store, re-
turns to the scene of an earlier scandal in
the Hollywood Hills after his erstwhile
lover, Harry Dare, dies suspiciously. In
the title story, Nick and Nora Dare, Har-
rys estranged children, plan a memorial
party in their fathers honor, despite their
mothers affair with a neighbor and other
shenanigans. With edgy humor, Thonson
also explores film noir in Two Noirs,
tracking the transformation of a police
detective into a budding writer via the
love of his dancing instructor, and science
fiction in Clips, in which the pool man
serves as a kind of nutty grim reaper who
foretells the death of his client. Dark,
pointed details and heavy atmosphere
haunt these engaging tales.
Nonfiction
Baghdad ER: Fifteen Minutes
Todd Baker. Gray Fox Publishing (www.bagh-
dader.squarespace.com), $15 trade paper
(376p) ISBN 978-0-578-06992-0
Between 2007 and 2009, Baker spent
15 months in Iraq as part of the emergen-
cy medical team at the U.S. Armys 86th
Combat Support Hospital in Baghdad,
and this important memoir is a moving
look at his experiences saving Americans
and Iraqis alike with
double lower-extremi-
ty amputations and
other devastating in-
juries. Although de-
scriptions of his train-
ing are slow going,
R E V I E W S
once Baker gets to Baghdad
he delivers a riveting and de-
tailed account of emergency
room life during wartime. If
anything, Bakers account is too detailed,
with hundreds of pages of trauma, includ-
ing an American soldier whose foot is
blown off in a blast that pushes his tibia
down through the bottom of his boot after
ripping all the flesh from it, and an ac-
count of another soldier burned beyond
all recognition. And while Baker worries
that he may have become addicted to the
emotional roller coaster ride of life and
death in the ER, he never once loses sight
of his mission: to help the soldiers who
had done their part to win this war with
unbelievable professionalism, compassion,
resiliency, and an unstoppable will.
Bowls Out Goes In: Every Man for
Himself
Gil Trott, Vantage (www.vantagepress.com),
$10.95 (158p) ISBN 978-0-533-16002-0
First-time author Trott announces in
the prologue that this is a book of mem-
ories detailing his life growing up in
Bermuda in the 1930s and 40s; his move
to America and service in the all-black
Third Battalion of the 505th Airborne In-
fantry Regiment in the early 1950s; his
move back to Bermuda, where he ran a
popular nightclub; and his work in cor-
porate America in the early 70s. In each
phase of his life, Trott experiences rac-
ismand at its midpoint, his book shifts
from straight memoir to a discourse on
the nature and state of race relations. The
books title refers to a variation on the
game of cricket that Trott played, in
which there are no teams and each player
competes for the cricket ball or bat. Un-
fortunately, while offering a few insights,
the latter half of the book is unfocused
and often presents over-the-top assertions,
e.g., Both Blacks and Whites are being
manipulated by a few insane, greedy, dev-
il worshippers who call themselves Chris-
tians and Everything the White Man
does is geared towards creating division
among others.
Living Life Dying Death: A Guide
to Healthy Conversations About
Death and Dying to Inspire Life
and Living
Jennifer Collins Taylor. MyRehab (www.liv-
inglifedyingdeath.com), $19.99 (64p) ISBN
978-0-9679887-9-5
Taylor, a social worker specializing in
hospice care, shares more than 30 years of
experiences confronting death in this slim
book offering short conversation starters on
several topics related to death and griev-
ing: compassion, euphemisms, imperma-
nence, nonjudg-
ment, and sadness.
Many of these al-
most poem-like dis-
cussion starters end
with questions to
encourage dialogue,
e.g., What do you hope for in life and
death? and What would be left unsaid or
undone if you died unexpectedly? Others
give more practical advice, such as that
people who are dying often eat less or lose
their appetites. While Taylor supports hav-
ing conversations about spirituality, her
advice and ideas do not favor any specific
religious belief. The book also includes il-
lustrations by Anthony Taylor in the intro-
duction. Although this may not be a com-
prehensive guide to death and dying, Tay-
lor certainly accomplishes her goal of giv-
ing readers the courage to start a conversa-
tion about living and dying when coping
with health problems or grief.
Lone Holdout: A Memoir
Linda Cox. Charles Street (charlesstreetpress.
9843733-0-7
In this compelling debut memoir, Cox,
a former Boston bookseller, recounts her
controversial role as the holdout jury
member during what became a high-pro-
file drug trial. In 1988, a young Hispanic
man named Carlos Montilla was accused
of cocaine trafficking. At his trial, police
officer Albert LaFontaine, provided dam-
aging testimony, but his own partner con-
tradicted his statements. With the other
jurors arguing for a guilty verdict, Cox
displaying courage and a strong sense of
justicemaintained that LaFontaine was
lying and argued against conviction. After
two days of tense deliberations, Cox re-
fused to change her vote and a mistrial
was declared. But when Montillas second
trial (with a different jury) ended in a con-
viction and prison sentence, Cox contin-
ued to fight for the young mans freedom,
eventually helping him win the right to a
third trial. This account of the flawed
American criminal justice system is a sad,
moving, and scary account that readers
will find both inspiring and important.
Looking Up: A Memoir of Sis-
ters, Survivors and Skokie
Linda Pressman. CreateSpace (www.cre-
atespace.com), $15 trade paper (348p) ISBN
978-1-4564-7068-5
In this flawed but intriguing family
memoir, Pressman describes growing up
as the sixth of seven sisters born to Holo-
caust survivors living in Skokie, Ill., after
WWII. Pressman is clearly a writer with a
good ear for dialogue, but her coming-of-
age stories about everyday life with her
sistersnone of whom prove to be engag-
ing charactersduring the 1960s and
1970s are far less interesting than her
memories of her parents. It is their sto-
riesher mother spent the bulk of WWII
hiding from the Nazis
with her family in the
woods of Lithuania,
while her father was in
Siberiathat readers
will find riveting. Ad-
ditionally, it is diffi-
cult to pin down
Pressmans attitude toward her parents. In
the end, it appears she resents the choices
they made in Skokie despite their strug-
glesand this diminishes the power of
her story. Nonetheless, Pressman is a tal-
ented writer and this book is a testament
to her parents truly indomitable will.
Respecting Autism: The Rebecca
School DIR Casebook for Parents
and Professionals
Stanley I. Greenspan and Gil Tippy. Vantage
(www.vantagepress.com), $19.95 trade paper
(240p) ISBN 978-0-533-16454-7
In this useful volume, Tippyclinical
director at New Yorks Rebecca School, a
therapeutic institute in Manhattan for
children with special needsand Greens-
pan, who, when he died last year, left a
legacy of pioneering work with autistic
children. profile 16 students on the au-
tism spectrum, describing their rocky his-
tories in the medical and special educa-
tion systems, the concerns and fears of
their parents, and the ways in which the
Rebecca Schools transdisciplinary ap-
proach helped them reach developmental
R E V I E W S
milestones: attention, communication,
problem solving, comparative thinking,
etc. As he did as a consultant to the Re-
becca School, Greenspan makes recom-
mendations to amplify successes and push
through limitations. Parents of children
who respond poorly to therapy systems
based on memory and behavior, will be
rallied by Tippys stories, while educators
will be roused by his critique of evi-
dence-based systems of rewards and pun-
ishments that dehumanize autistic chil-
dren whose core deficits, Tippy says, can
best be addressed through respectful rela-
tionships. Anyone working with autistic
children will find surprising insights and
effective tools in this practical yet deeply
empathetic volume.
Turning It Around: Redirectional
Therapy
Sidney M. Rosen and Deborah L.K. Spencer-
Chun. Vantage (www.vantagepress.com),
$18.95 trade paper (230p) ISBN 978-0-533-
16490-5
Initially created in 1985 by a federal
grant to the University of Hawaii School
of Social Work, the group now known as
Adult Friends for Youth (AFY) has grown
from a volunteer mentoring program into
a private nonprofit corporation that sends
trained professionals into low-income
neighborhoods in Hawaii to work directly
with gang members. In this valuable
book, AFY founder and president emeri-
tus Rosen and president and CEO Spen-
cer-Chun describe the organizations sig-
nature redirectional therapy, which they
credit with helping dangerous youths
lead productive lives. The authors support
their claims with numerous case studies
that demonstrate of the successful work
being done by AFY. Particularly useful is
a section on conducting successful media-
tion between gangs and teaching gang
members how to solve their differences
nonviolently. While this effort lacks the
immediacy of Gruwells catalyzing The
Freedom Writers Diary, which tells of the
authors experiences with high school stu-
dents in Long Beach, Calif., the stories
collected by Rosen and Spencer-Chun at-
test to the power of respectful, therapeu-
tic intervention to rehabilitate a popula-
tion that has been stigmatized by educa-
tors, mental health professionals, and the
legal system as hopeless.
Childrens
Books
Picture Books
Martin Mixed-Up at the Beach
Jess Golden Linehan. Salty Pond (www.jess
goldenlinehan.com), $15.95 (32p) ISBN 978-
0-615-45705-5
Linehans understated yet expressive
pictures make the most of a straightfor-
ward story of sibling interactions in this
spunky paper-over-board book. At the
beach, Martin, a gray mouse, is reading a
book when his baby sisters crying shat-
ters the peace. Martin dutifully does ev-
erything he can think of to cheer her
upincluding snuggling and tickling
her, trying to make her laugh, and rock-
ing her in an inner tubeall to no avail.
Linehans bare-bones prose is punchy and
effectively repetitive: Maybe she wanted
to play. She did not want to play. Maybe
she wanted to sing. She did not want to
sing. The visual humor in Linehans
loosely rendered cartoons gives the prose a
deadpan quality, as she conveys the dis-
gruntled childs obstinacy through her
animated body language and facial ex-
pressions (think lots of flailing and howl-
ing). The repeated dismissals of Martins
attempts to placate his sister invite chim-
ing in (Bottle? No. Cracker? No), and
the large type and limited vocabulary will
bolster beginning readers confidence.
While Martin never figures out what his
sister wants on his own, she makes it clear
in the end. Ages 36.
What Do You Suppose?
Nora Leone, illus. by Kara Leone. Higher
Ground (www.highergroundpress.com/
index.html), $13.99 paper (32p) ISBN 978-0-
9766062-6-0
This debut from a mother-daughter
team jubilantly imagines what kinds of
clothes different types of animals might
wear. Most of the rhymes have a pleasing,
easy cadence, though they are inconsistent
in their meter and sometimes have to
stretch to make the rhymes work: Chick-
ens who scratch in the dirt, willy-nilly,/
wearing tights and high heels, would look
pretty silly./ What kind of clothes would
you see on a horse?/ Well,
boots and a vest with fringe,
of course! Kara Leones digi-
tal graphics epitomize cutesi-
ness (her animals have wide Betty Boop
eyes, complete with long lashes), though
there are some winning imagesthe
aforementioned chickens exude a punk-
rock aggressiveness, and its hard not to
giggle at a pair of cows that prefer to
wear tube tops and tinted sunglasses. A
giraffe wears a selection of scarves in eye-
catching knit patterns, while for an ele-
phant diva adorned in a crown, pearls, and
a feather boa, its all about finding the
right accessories. The Leones deliver a
lively read-aloud, especially suited for
budding clotheshorses. Ages 36.
Kusikiy: A Child from Taquile, Peru
Mercedes Cecilia. Keepers of Wisdom and
Peace Books (www.KeepersofWisdomand
Peace.com), $24.99 (48p) ISBN 978-0-
9844079-0-3
A Peruvian island in Lake Titicaca is
the setting for this original myth about a
boy who embarks on a crucial mission.
When drought threatens the potato and
quinoa crops of Taquile, Kusikiy flies on
the back of a condor to make an offering
to Apu, the Guardian Spirit of the Great
Glacier. He asks the spirit to help bring
about the return of the Llama Constella-
tion, which heralds rain. After Kusikiy
follows Apus instructions to float a piece
of ice on the lake
to summon the
stars, Clouds be-
gin to smile and
raindrops jump in
the lake, and the
islanders celebrate
the end of the drought. The poetic narra-
tive is often opaque (At this altitude the
dust of the full moon whitewashes the
feathers of birds and the wind whistles
stories of the beginning of life on Earth),
yet the story conveys Taquiles sense of
community and strong intergenerational
ties. Cecilias folk art showcases the vi-
brancy of island traditions; images of in-
tricately patterned handwoven and knit
items are particularly striking. An au-
thors note offers additional information
about Taquiles customs and lifestyle.
Ages 612.
R E V I E W S
Fiction
Hotey
Josephine Bailey, illus. by Zach Franzen.
AuthorHouse (www.authorhouse.com),
$22.50 (152p) ISBN 978-1-4634-2390-2;
$15.99 trade paper ISBN 978-1-4634-2391-9
This peripatetic first novel from audio-
book narrator Bailey centers on a young
donkey who earns the
groan-worthy nick-
name of Donkey
Hotey. Though eager
to explore his world,
Hotey heeds his
mothers cautionary
advice (a wise donkey
learns to walk before
he tries to run), until one day he strays
from his herd to follow a pack of wild
mustangs. He and the horses are captured
by cattle herders and taken to their camp,
where Michael, a kind cook, cares for Ho-
tey. The donkey bonds with Michaels
feisty pet parrot, Sancho, and his wise old
mule, Charlie, eventually joining them as
well as Michael on a journey during
which Hotey emerges a hero. His mo-
ments of triumph include aiding in a
mining disaster rescue and saving sheep
from a mountain lion. Hoteys voyage of
self-discovery and loss (Charlie dies early
on, and hes not the last to do so) is en-
cumbered by considerable melodrama
and platitude, yet Bailey creates a num-
ber of heart-tugging scenes, as well as
some thoughtful ruminations on friend-
ship. Franzen contributes handsome b&w
spot art images of Hoteys adventures.
Ages 612.
Vickie Van Helsing
Solomon J. Inkwell. Oakberry & Inkwell
(www.createspace.com), $14.95 trade paper
(270p) ISBN 978-0-615-44840-4
This farcical vampire novel from Ink-
well (a pen name for writer James Grea)
centers on a high school outcast, 17-year-
old Vickie Jenkins, who is unaware that
she is descended from the Van Helsing
line until assigned a project to research
her genealogical history. Hopelessly and
uncharacteristically smitten with football
captain Rod Rainfeld,
Vickie doesnt have
slaying the undead on
her mind. But when
Rods eccentric father
receives a delivery in
the form of the Vladi-
mir Dracula (who can
only be reanimated with virgin blood),
Rod and Vickie discover that their con-
nection spans centuries into the past.
Readers will inevitably find parallels to
Buffy the Vampire Slayer as Vickie, her hor-
ror-obsessed friend Kyle, Rod, and a hip
teacher confront the vampires that have
overtaken their town. Vickie is smart and
tenacious, but her heavy use of slang
(That would be a hell-with-a-side-of-no)
feels forced. Inkwell offers effective dia-
logue and well-paced action sequences,
and he weaves a compelling literary
thread into the story. But as Vickie relays
the events, the narrative point of view
shifts uncomfortably between first-person
and third, resulting in a clumsy overall
delivery. Ages 12up.
R E V I E W S

PW Select January 2012

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