Glowing Review for THE LORDS OF THE SUMMER SEASON

I'm very pleased to announce that the February 2021 issue of the Midwest Book Review's online book review magazine Small Press Bookwatch features a review of "The Lords of the Summer Season". Here is a quote from the review: "Deftly combining elements of the 1960's hippie psychedelic subculture, legendary fantasy, and adventure, "The Lords of … Continue reading Glowing Review for THE LORDS OF THE SUMMER SEASON →

Book Review – IN THE LAND OF MEN

Curiously, In the Land of Men needed better editing; it’s curious because this memoire was written by a former fiction editor of Esquire. Early on, Adrienne Miller's In the Land of Men is an arch portrait of a time when journals like Esquire made an effort to publish significant, literary short stories and Miller navigated … Continue reading Book Review – IN THE LAND OF MEN →

Book Review – THE LIES OF LOCKE LAMORA

Three-star book reviews may be the most useful critiques for judging a book. These reviews call out both good and bad aspects of a story and thread the needle between gushy fanboy/fangirl praise (4 and 5 stars) and spiteful hating on a book (1 and 2 stars). In that spirit, I’m giving The Lies of … Continue reading Book Review – THE LIES OF LOCKE LAMORA →

In Praise of Three Star Book Reviews

Consumers of everything from lipstick to lawn mowers are misled by inflated product ratings and reviews on ecommerce platforms. Like everyone else, readers face this challenge when they buy books. So, what to do for an honest critique? As these platforms use a 1 – 5 rating scale with 1 representing ‘awful’ and 5 representing … Continue reading In Praise of Three Star Book Reviews →

Book Review – THE ESSEX SERPENT

The Essex Serpent’s MacGuffin is, of course, the Essex Serpent. The monster is Sarah Perry’s fulcrum to lever forward the plot, plumb the story’s characters, and probe the novel’s various and manifold themes. It can all seem a bit self-conscious and mannered at times, but Perry has, by in large, crafted an amusing story taking … Continue reading Book Review – THE ESSEX SERPENT →