Sad. Happy. Heart-warming and heart-breaking. Those are the words I would use to describe The Fifth Floor by Julie Oleszek. In 1970s Chicago, young Anna thrives in the commotion of her large and rambunctious family. With ten children in the home, there is always something...

Sweeping. Beautiful. Striking. I could go on, but one word descriptions of a book, especially one as wonderful as The Notorious Dream of Jesús Lázaro, would not suffice. This masterful work by author Terence Clarke follows the titular artist, Jesús Lázaro, on his journey to...

Venice Beach is a contemporary fiction novel written by Emily Gallo. Maggie's long illness and eventual death took a toll on Finn that left him heartbroken, penniless, and with a bad case of writer's block. His publisher had gotten tired of waiting for his next...

Krill America by Ray Palla is a story of suspense and action. The Krill America is a krill research ship, made up of an old krill catcher fused with a refrigeration tanker. On their final journey, the crew is caught unaware when an undersea earthquake...

Purple Mike is an interesting novel showcasing the dangers of drug use. The story is based in the town of Anyplace, where the hallucinogen LSD, known as Purple Mike, resides with his pals Pill, Powder and Pot. Author Sin Mils reveals the enticing nature of...

Essie's Roses: A Novel by Michelle Muriel is a historical fiction novel set in the South during the years leading up to the American Civil War. Essie, a slave, is born on the Westland plantation at the same time as the plantation owner, Katie Winthrop,...

Bobbie Lamont by Zelmer Wilson is a fairy tale set in 2010. Bobbie Lamont is a successful woman who has given up on finding love for herself after a bitter divorce. That is when she discovers a man she dated twenty years ago has written...

I smiled while reading the first tale from Mr. Chiardi and Other Stories. My smile then changed to laughter which didn’t stop until this entertaining book was finished. Can you picture an elderly couple getting the urge to slide down a snow covered hill on...

Nebraska's Map is a real treasure of its own. Roger Ladd Memmott has created a world of uncertainty to surround his volatile, over-thinking characters, whose intricately woven existence is both insular and dangerous. Rubi and Wyatt share a common love, birthed during primary school and...

Birdbrain by Virginia Arthur is a sweeping semi-autobiographical chronicle (the author states in the foreword that many of the book’s events actually happened) of the life of a birder biologist/conservationist whose journey takes her to some of America’s most biologically diverse and unspoiled places. Protagonist...