Probably one of the most controversial topics still in the book publishing industry is the idea of an author (or publicist) paying for a review of their book. It’s an offshoot of the self-publishing versus publishing industry argument that comes from the old vanity presses of the past. A vanity press, for the younger readers, […]
This reader is much prejudiced toward seeing a work as the writer intended; even if the authorship of Shakespeare’s plays remains questioned. The editor of AS YOU LIKE IT is the artistic director of the South Coast Repertory Theater in Costa Mesa. With those credentials, I am sure that he knows his way around Shakespeare’s […]
What does Bear do at an animal fair? Some animals may not understand why Bear comes ripping through the fair and tearing things down. Then, the animals set a trap to calm him down. Only one animal that meets Bear understands what is wrong, and that is Shrew. Shrew knows that Bear just needs some […]
The 24th Hour is the next installment in James Patterson and Maxine Paetro’s Women’s Murder Club Thriller Series. The book starts off with the women in the club at a fancy Bay Area restaurant. They hear a woman yell, “Nooooo!” from upstairs, and immediately, Officer Lindsay Boxer rushes to see what the commotion is all […]
The works in Billy Collins’ latest collection Musical Tables: Poems are referred to as “small poems” by the author in the introduction. What they really are, though, is an assortment of puns, obvious observations, and downright pointless musings stretched far too thin. The goal of the book may be to illustrate the poet’s craft even […]
In times of cold and turmoil, it’s easy to forget that the most important thing for some people is warmth. As winter descends, being warm means many things, and it takes on many guises. This small but powerful work attempts to capture the feeling of being warm and what it means to those facing a […]
In what many call “Education for Extinction,” 523 church-run boarding schools took Native American children from their families and attempted to indoctrinate them away from their culture. About 35,000 children were schooled in this way. This poetic narrative details one such child who was raised by a Baptist family away from her Cheyenne family. The […]
Book Summary: Americans in the twenty-first century are becoming increasingly untethered from both reality and the essential principles and traditions that have shaped the nation’s historic success. A big part of why America isn’t working is because far too many Americans neither know nor care how it’s supposed to work. Cooper explains key aspects of […]
Professor Caitlyn Morrys, a passionate and vocal educator at a small college, finds herself at the heart of a fierce debate over academic freedom and teacher tenure. The situation takes a deadly turn when the college President, who is Caitlyn’s primary adversary, is discovered stabbed to death in his office. Acting Chief Inspector Cormac Robertson, […]
The Pinocchio Chip is a first-person account of an AI’s quest for the Holy Grail of consciousness: human emotions. It delves deep into the essence of what it means to be alive, challenging the boundaries between AI and human identity. Photina, an advanced AI becomes entwined in a groundbreaking experiment when her creator Eli designs […]
Introducing “Belonging Matters: Conversations on Adoption, Family, and Kinship” by Julie Ryan McGue “Belonging Matters” is a book that addresses adoption and its impact on identity, family, and kinship. It encourages readers to contemplate the significance of belonging in shaping personal experiences and relationships. The book supports the adoption community while engaging those outside it […]
