Mystery, romance, mythology and pathos. It is all here in the Best Microfiction 2019. In the time taken to watch another catheter ad on daytime tv, you could slip into a fully formed life. It may be the story of a dragon, a protective older brother, or a murder victim.Continue Reading
An isolated hotel in Switzerland after multiple nuclear bombs are detonated is the setting of The Last. Jon, an American historian at the hotel for a conference is the book’s narrator. After the bombs drop, the Internet soon fails. Most of the hotel’s guests drive or walk to the cityContinue Reading
The Spectators is literary fiction but the two portions of the plot make strange bedfellows. Mattie M. is a talk show host (think Jerry Springer) in the late 1990s. When a horrific school shooting is determined to be by hard-core fans of Mattie’s show, it opens a national discussion onContinue Reading
Daisy Jones & The Six is the best non-thriller that I have read this year! Set in the turbulent late 1970s Sunset Boulevard band scene, The Six is a five member middle-of-road rock band who are effectively forced by their label to add a sexy new lead singer, Daisy Jones. Continue Reading
Chronicles of a Radical Hag (with recipes) is the story of small town Minnesota life over the past fifty years seen through the eyes of a local journalist. The title refers to the name one of her readers called her, a “radical hag”, plus she felt that if she addedContinue Reading
Fascinating story about how the author of The Wizard of Oz went about Finding Dorothy interspersed with the making of the movie in 1938-39. Maud Baum is the unifying character in the two strands of her life described in the book. It begins with a 77-year-old Maud attempting to getContinue Reading
Such Good Work is the inspiring tale of addiction and recovery based on a true story. Jonas works as an adjunct creative writing teacher in the US. When he isn’t being fired. And if he isn’t high on oxy or another opiate. When Jonas hits rock bottom, he makes theContinue Reading
Miraculum is a carnival with a big top, a midway, and freak show in 1922. It is also the setting for a battle of good against evil. After the suicide of the carnival’s chicken biting geek, a mysterious well-dressed man applies for the job. Despite a lack of experience, heContinue Reading
Loosely tied together by the theme of food, the sixteen stories contained in Take-Out vary from crime stories to humor. While I enjoyed reading all the stories, my favorite was “The Gift of the Wiseguy”. It’s the story of a Mafioso’s son who writes a memoir. His father had rattedContinue Reading
You awaken in a cold sweat with a fast-beating heart. Was that just a dream? It takes you several minutes to calm down. Still, the dream’s story continues to haunt you until the next feverish dream occurs. This is the feeling you will have after reading each story in theContinue Reading
The unnamed narrator of Looker is having a bad year. After years of unsucessful infertility treatments, her husband has left. Her job as adjunct professor has shrunk to only one poetry class. Despite having a PhD in Literature, she can’t find another job. The professor falls into an increasing obsessionContinue Reading
Enter this book giveaway to grab an advance reader’s paperback copy of The Optimist’s Guide to Letting Go by Amy E. Reichert. The Optimist’s Guide to Letting Go is a heartfelt tale of a family trying to communicate during a trying time by the author of The Coincidence of Coconut Cake.Continue Reading
Enter this book giveaway to grab an advance reader’s paperback copy of The Last Wish of Sasha Cade by Cheyanne Young. If you loved The Fault in Our Stars, you will love this life-affirming young adult book. It has 4.9 stars out of 5 on Amazon. Giveaway begins November 29, 2018 atContinue Reading
Very literary version of a mystery using the characters and mechanics of the board game, Clue. Throughout most of it, I felt Not a Clue who would find this book an enjoyable read. “There are six of you and you killed me. One of you or maybe each of you.”Continue Reading
Containing eight science fiction/fantasy stories, Quantum Convention has a story for all tastes. A man sneaks away from his wife to a Quantum Convention where he meets himself from 100 different universes each where a single different decision was made. An orphan finds a career as a professional mourner. AContinue Reading
Stanley is dying. All any of his family are concerned about is whether he has set up a Family Trust and named them as trustees. Stanley is the domineering and occasionally abusive father of Kate and Fred. Their mother and Stanley’s ex-wife, Linda, is concerned that Stanley will leave hisContinue Reading