Wild Horses on the Salt, by Anne Montgomery: #BookReview.

345 pagesWomen’s Action & Adventure/Romance/Contemporary Fiction Having enjoyed Anne Montgomery’s ‘A Light in the Desert’, I thought I’d give this new novel a try. I’ve never been to the USA, and frequently find novels set there both self-congratulatory and full of references that are meaningless to me as a UK reader. But the previous novel …

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The Photograph as Contemporary Art, by Charlotte Cotton: #BookReview.

248 pages Photography Criticism & Essays/Photography Reference/Digital Art. This is an examination of photography employed as a contemporary art medium as things stood approaching 2009 (there’s an updated version from Aug 2020). There has been an ongoing discussion about the validity of photography as a means of such self-expression. Hopefully, that argument has long been …

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Depolarized, by Nick Airus: #BookReview.

272 pagesPerspectives on Law/Government/Civil Liberties & Political Activism Subtitled ‘Transcending the False Left, Right Narrative’ this book is basically a plea for rational discussion to replace the current fashion for polemic and knee-jerk reactions to so many disagreements. It is also much more than this. The world seems to have descended into extreme factions, if …

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Options: Maye West Mysteries, Book 2, by Brenda Colbath: #BookReview.

231 pagesKidnapping Crime Fiction/Crime Action Fiction/Murder Fiction I came across this author and her books via comments on websites I visit. I tend not to read much crime fiction, but the comments led me to expect a good story from this author. And that was the case. The story is full of action, conflict, some …

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Crimes and Impunity in New Orleans, by Sherrie Miranda: #BookReview.

353 pages: Women’s Crime Fiction/Coming of Age Fiction/Women’s Contemporary Fiction (It should, perhaps, also be included in ‘Political and Historical Fiction) Subtitled ‘Shelly’s Journey Begins’, this book is a prequal to the authors debut thriller ‘Secrets and Lies in El Salvador’, which I’ve also read and reviewed. Both books are well worth anyone’s cash and …

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Boxed In, by Penny Grubb: #BookReview.

384 PagesWomen Writers and Fiction/Thrillers This is the latest in the Annie Raymond series, and, as usual, worth waiting for. As someone who doesn’t read much crime fiction, I’ve always enjoyed this series of crime novels, which is probably explained by the excellent writing and the way Penny Grubb delivers her characters.In this story, Annie’s …

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Mara’s Awakening by Leo Flynn: #BookReview.

Space Opera/Science Fiction A short story full of action, and written in a style to keep that action moving. The title character is described on the cover as ‘half human, half machine, all badass’, and that comes across in the telling.Although I write science fiction, and read it, I’ve tended to stay clear of space …

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A Lullaby in the Desert, by Mojgan Azar: #BookReview.

296 PagesDiscrimination & Racism/Women’s Biographies/Adventure Stories & Action This is effectively an autobiographical novel, an exceptionally candid and affecting one, as the author followed the same dangers, cruelties and life choices as the fictional narrative subject, Susan. It is not an easy read. But it is a book everyone who can read should.It tells the …

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Bridport Prize 2020 Anthology, by Bridport Arts Centre: #BookReview.

147 pages Literary Anthology This is an anthology of the winning entries for the poetry, short fiction, and flash fiction annual contest held in 2020. It includes the ‘commended’ entries, too.The Bridport is a well-respected international literary competition. Along with other contemporary creative activities, what is considered ‘good’ is down to personal taste. We’ve all …

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The Defiant Spark, by Annie Percik: #BookReview.

346 PagesDark Fantasy Horror/Low Fantasy This work of intelligent imagination takes us on a journey with well-rounded characters into a world of mixed fantasy and science fiction. We’re not told when the story takes place, but that’s not an essential detail: we know we’re in the future, on a probable Earth, and that’s enough of …

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Finding Home, by Jackie Weger: #BookReview.

233 pagesWomen’s Humorous/Contemporary/Romance In this romance, we follow the progress of Phoebe as she attempts to find a new home for herself, her siblings, and her parents following their loss of employment. Set in America, it has the usual tendency to reference aspects of life that are familiar only to those who live there. In …

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Our Future Earth, by Curt Stager: #BookReview.

320 pagesGlobal Warming and Ecology/Ecological Pollution/Higher Education in Geography. Subtitled, The Next 100,000 Years of Life on the Planet, this book takes the view of that future as seen through the eyes of a paleoecologist, a term so new it doesn’t even appear in my edition of my usual go-to dictionary, the SOED. It describes …

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Childish Ways, by Fran Gabaldoni: #BookReview.

194 pagesFiction An interesting and relatively unusual approach to the novel, this story uses the format of first-person narrative from the point of view of a young boy, alternating with the emotionally charged diary entries the same person makes as the father of a young girl suffering from leukaemia. The contrast between the carefree and …

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The Beauty of the #Book Review

Sometimes a reader truly ‘gets’ our work. Even less rarely, that reader takes the trouble to express their admiration and understanding of the piece by posting a review. This common situation is even more true of authors, like me, who tackle controversial themes in their books. Since April of this year, I’ve been posting daily …

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2120 (The Galaxy Series Book 4), by Aithal: #BookReview.

141 pagesFirst Contact Science Fiction/Action and Adventure Fiction Having read book 3 in this series (Divided States of America), I was open to read and review this fourth book when invited by the author. The story is the continuation of a time-travelling group, involving another world in a distant galaxy and the interaction of the …

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