By Shannon Yarbrough on May 16, 2012
Jon Marshall is a Brisbane dermatologist who lasers bananas as well as he does skin and has a penchant for making even simple situations more complicated. From Ash–his running buddy–to Katie–his coffee friend–to Lily–his daughter known affectionately as the Bean–Jon tries to keep the women in his life in neat compartments but ultimately finds that poetry readings, errant cats, and the Lemonheads all make life what it is–messy and blurry and vibrant.
Posted in Literary, Shannon Yarbrough | Tagged contemporary fiction, contemporary humor, exciting press, nick earls, parenthood fiction, perfect skin |
By Jaime Hypes on May 8, 2012
Elih, Turkey has established its own set of laws that seek to control and dominate the population, in the name of Islamic law. This does, of course, effect women’s lives most of all, as the regime of the RTK (the ‘Morality Police’) targets women in an attempt to keep them docile and subservient.
Posted in Experimental/Narrative, Fiction, Literary | Tagged contemporary thriller, jaime hypes, magical realism, Muslim superhero, Pavarti K. Tyler, Shadow on the Wall: Book One of the Sandstorm Chronicles, violence against women |
By Peter Hassebroek on April 30, 2012
Imagine yourself in a coma, dead and unconscious to everyone around you for the past six years, and then suddenly able to hear and think. But only that. No sense of smell or sight or touch.
Posted in Fiction, Literary, Reviews, Uncategorized | Tagged book review, Bryan Healey, coma, Fiction, Hospital, mercy killing, The Void |
By Susan Anderson on April 3, 2012
Martin Crosbie’s first book, MY TEMPORARY LIFE, is a sensitive, coming of age novel with a storyline that held me captive. The novel is filled with emotion—humor, joy, heartache, grief. It deals with the loneliness of children who have lost and the agony of their adjustment.
Posted in Literary, Susan Anderson | Tagged coming of age new fiction, emotional fiction, grief, martin crosbie, my temporary life |
By Susan Anderson on March 9, 2012
Meet a boy, a girl. Be immersed in their love story, the fleeting moments of ecstasy beautifully handled by the author. Enter the world of the Nordestinos of northeastern Brazil. Feel their squalor, the meanness of life without freedom, the impossibility of liberation. Add villains. Mix in action and a story with twists and turns that keep the reader wondering what happens next, and you’ve got CARNIVAL OF HOPE.
Posted in Literary, Susan Anderson | Tagged brazil, carnival fiction, carnival of hope, george hamilton, kindle thriller, love story, rio |
By Peter Hassebroek on February 25, 2012
Who is Michael Norton writing to and why is he so sensitive to the shallow identities of others, particularly those on Facebook? These two questions provide the suspense in Matadors, a one-way epistolary mini-novel by Steve Bauman. Yet the underlying question for the un-cool but likeable protagonist is, where do I fit in this world?
Posted in Fiction, Literary, Reviews | Tagged book review, Burlington, epistolary, Fiction, Matadors, novella, Steve Bauman |
By Bob Cherny on February 9, 2012
The first chapter, the last chapter and a couple of chapters in the middle are brilliant. The remainder of the book careens between “Catcher in the Rye” and “Animal House” both in style in a level of sophistication. The contrast between the highs and the lows is so sharp as to be painful.
Posted in Literary, Robert H. Cherny | Tagged computer fiction, computer romance, contemporary romance, david wallace fleming, growing up wired, online fiction, tech romance, technical fiction |
By Shannon Yarbrough on January 1, 2012
It’s not often that I read a book that stays with me. By “staying with me” I mean I think about it and the characters long after finishing the last page. I can recall the events that took place, and often every character’s name, as if they were real pages from my own life story and real people that I know and love. A book like this is usually one that I consistently suggest to other readers that I know will appreciate it as much as I did. Appalachian Justice by Melinda Clayton is all of this.
Posted in Literary, Relationships/Women's Lit, Shannon Yarbrough | Tagged appalachian fiction, appalachian justice, lesbian fiction, melinda clayton, mining fiction, southern fiction, vanilla heart publishing |
By Peter Hassebroek on December 28, 2011
Grief and guilt ripple through Heaven Again by H. C. Turk, but not in a morose or self-pitying way. Despite emotionally weighed-down characters and tragic events, this compact, engaging novel that takes place in fictional locales in Florida compels the reader more to contemplation than anger, tears, or depression.
Posted in Fiction, Literary, Reviews | Tagged book review, dogs, Fiction, Florida, greyhound, HC Turk, Heaven Again |
By Jaime Hypes on November 28, 2011
In this hilariously clever satire written by Dan Spencer, Buddy What crashes into the lives of America. Literally. When a naked man falls from the sky in the exact middle of the United States, not remembering a thing about who he is, many are quick to find out the meaning of it all. After a misunderstood conversation leads to the moniker ‘Buddy What’, it soon becomes part of his new identity, as his search for self begins.
Posted in Experimental/Narrative, Jaime Hypes, Literary | Tagged amnesia, be now, be now buddy what, buddy what, celebrity, clever satire, comedy, dan spencer, religion, self-awareness |
