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Reviewer's Choice
Senioring: Your Superpower to Age Well
Laura H. Gilbert
Independently Published
9798184456447, $18.00, PB, 153pp
Amazon
https://www.amazon.com/Senioring-Your-Superpower-Well-Wherever/dp/B0HFDLT9KG
Synopsis: "Senioring: Your Superpower to Age Well: (Wherever You Live)" by Laura H. Gilbert offers a thought-provoking perspective on aging, and a strategy for aging well, wherever you happen to live.
"Senioring" is your unique inner strength in knowing who you are, what you value, what is possible, how to make it happen -- or when it is time to pivot. "Senioring" also helps you to dig deeply when the going gets tough and reminds you that you are still you no matter what the mirror might suggest some days!
Your 'Senioring Superpower' comprises:
Believing in yourself.
An endless source of creative solutions to live a life you love.
Understanding that while our body may falter, our soul and spirit remain vibrant!
Keeping us engaged in life and aging well wherever we live.
Critique: Original, impressively informative, inspirationally motivating, exceptionally 'reader friendly' in organization and presentation, "Senioring: Your Superpower to Age Well: (Wherever You Live)" by Laura H. Gilbert is an especially and unreservedly recommended pick for personal, professional, community, senior center Aging/Longevity Self-Help/Self-Improvement collections and college/university library supplemental Gerontology curriculum studies lists. It should be noted that this paperback edition of "Senioring" is also readily available in a digital book format (Kindle, $10.99).
Editorial Note: There is an online listing of books by Laura H. Gilbert on Goodreads at: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/3179450.Laura_H_Gilbert
The Writing/Publishing Shelf
The Screen Playbook: A Writer's Guide to Negotiating Creative Rights Like a Pro
Tisha Morris
www.tishamorris.com
Legacy Arts Publishing
9781953596277, $22.99, PB, 272pp
Amazon
https://www.amazon.com/Screen-Playbook-Writers-Negotiating-Creative/dp/1953596274
Barnes & Noble
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-screen-playbook-tisha-morris/1150331279
Synopsis: In today's entertainment industry, understanding the business side of storytelling is no longer optional. Writers, creators, and producers are expected to navigate contracts, intellectual property, pitching, packaging, producer attachments, and negotiations -- often before they fully understand the implications of the deals they are signing.
"The Screen Playbook: A Writer's Guide to Negotiating Creative Rights Like a Pro" is a practical, real-world guide to the legal and business foundations of film and television development. Written by entertainment attorney Tisha Morris, "The Screen Playbook" breaks down the agreements, deal points, and industry dynamics that shape how creative projects move from script to screen.
Whether you are adapting source material, negotiating an option agreement, attaching producers, or trying to protect your rights as a creator, "The Screen Playbook" provides an accessible roadmap through the often-overwhelming business side of entertainment.
"The Screen Playbook" covers:
The difference between shopping agreements, option agreements, and purchase agreements
How intellectual property and chain of title affect your project
Common contract terms writers should understand before signing
How leverage impacts negotiation strategy
What producers, managers, agents, and entertainment attorneys actually do
The realities of pitching, packaging, and project development
How to protect your creative rights and avoid common industry mistakes
"The Screen Playbook" is essential reading for:
Screenwriters
Authors adapting their work for film or television
Independent filmmakers and producers
Content creators developing narrative projects
Emerging professionals navigating the entertainment industry
Critique: Informed and informative, comprehensive and practical, "The Screen Playbook: A Writer's Guide to Negotiating Creative Rights Like a Pro" by Tisha Morris is extraordinary, authentic, 'reader friendly' in organization and presentation -- making it essential reading for novice and experienced authors to effective and successfully negotiating publishing contracts. "The Screen Playbook" is a core addition to personal, professional, community, and college/university library Writing & Publishing collections and supplemental curriculum studies lists. It should be noted that this paperback edition of "The Screen Playbook" from Legacy Arts Publishing is also available in a digital book format (Kindle, $12.99).
Editorial Note: Tisha Morris (www.tishamorris.com) is an entertainment attorney and founder of Legacy Arts Law where she represents writers, filmmakers, and creators in film, new media, and publishing. She advises on contracts, dealmaking, and creative business strategy, and is the author of multiple books on creativity and personal development.
The AI Studies Shelf
Human Still Wins: The Human Soul Skills AI Can't Replace
Kara Fox
Independently Published
https://humanstillwins.com
9798188933364, $18.99, PB, 242pp
Amazon
https://www.amazon.com/Human-Still-Wins-Skills-Replace/dp/B0HDM293S7
Synopsis: First the good news: AI can probably do quite a lot of your job. It can write the email, fix the spreadsheet, build the deck, summarize the meeting and produce twelve perfectly respectable ideas before you have found your glasses.
Then the better news: Your job was never really the point.
None of those things was the reason anybody ever trusted you with the difficult work, listened when the answer was not obvious, or looked for you when something had gone wrong.
AI is getting better, quickly, and the human part is coming into focus at the same speed.
With the publication of "Human Still Wins: The Human Soul Skills AI Can't Replace" Kara Fox begins with a more useful question than whether AI will take your job: She asks -- 'If AI keeps getting better, what becomes more valuable about being human?"
Kara asked an eleven-year-old, who answered this question in just nine words. Then asked it again to an eighty-five-year-old who remembers booking a trunk call through a switchboard, and business leaders, colleagues and people whose lives had already been rearranged by a machine once before.
"Be more human" turned out to be the sort of advice that looks excellent on a conference tote bag and stops working somewhere in the car park. What came back instead was far more specific: There are Four Soul Skills -- each of which grows more consequential as intelligence, information and competent output get cheaper.
Nobody was ever paid to feel. They were paid to be the person in the room who could tell that the technically correct answer was still the wrong one, and who could be found afterwards when everyone wanted to know whose idea it was. That part was never formally written into the job description.
"Human Still Wins: The Human Soul Skills AI Can't Replace" is a book about work, and about whom we trust, who gets to decide, why some things are technically excellent and still wrong, and what happens when a machine can recommend the answer and you are still the person who has to live with it.
Critique: The impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on humans is a topic of vital interest. "Human Still Wins: The Human Soul Skills AI Can't Replace" by Kara Fox is a timely, informative, thought-provoking, insightful, and essential contribution to our personal understanding of, and our national discussions on, the subject of AI in our work and in our lives. Exceptionally well written, organized and presented, "Human Still Wins: The Human Soul Skills AI Can't Replace" is a solid and unreservedly recommended pick for personal, professional, community, and college/university library AI collections and supplemental curriculum studies lists. It should be noted for students, academia, political activists, governmental policy makers, and non-specialist general readers with an interest in the subject that this paperback edition of "Human Still Wins: The Human Soul Skills AI Can't Replace" is also readily available in a digital book format (Kindle, $5.99).
Editorial Note: Kara Fox (https://humanstillwins.com/kara-fox) is a writer, strategist and Chief of Staff at Ecommerce Counsel, an ecommerce marketplace agency in Cape Town. For twenty years she has worked across advertising, entertainment, luxury, recruitment, animal welfare and ecommerce, usually somewhere between people, systems and the moment somebody asks, "Who approved this?" Her work increasingly comes down to one deceptively simple question: what should the machine handle, what still needs a person, and who takes responsibility when the line is drawn badly? She writes about work, technology and the human capacities that become more interesting as machines become more capable, particularly Trust, Judgement, Taste and Courage.
The Education Shelf
Field Guide to High School: An 8-Week Program to Build the Skills High School Demands
Greg Wilson
Dotted Eye Press
www.dottedeyepress.com
9781972263006, $34.99, PB, 660pp
Amazon
https://www.amazon.com/Field-Guide-High-School-Program/dp/1972263005
Barnes & Noble
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/field-guide-to-high-school-greg-wilson/1150503318
Synopsis: The summer before High School is the last clear window to build the education/learning skills that determine how the first year goes for students graduating from Middle School.
"Field Guide to High School: An 8-Week Program to Build the Skills High School Demands" by Greg Wilson is an 8-week structured high school preparation program that teaches the executive function and study skills high school expects students to arrive with but rarely explains.
The program is comprised of one skill per week, Monday through Friday, through short readings and hands-on exercises grounded in cognitive science and learning psychology.
Most middle schools never teach time management, note-taking, study strategy, or how to plan backward from a deadline. High school assumes all of it on day one. That gap is where capable kids begin to fall apart. Not because they aren't smart, but because nobody handed them the operating system.
With "Field Guide to High School" and over eight weeks, students will build:
Daily routines that catch mistakes before they cost something
Note-taking methods that turn class time into usable study material
Time management systems and backward planning from real deadlines
Strategies for breaking down complex, multi-step assignments
Memory and study techniques based on how the brain actually retains information
Critical thinking skills that work in classrooms, conversations, and life
Self-assessment habits that keep everything running after the program ends
A personal academic system they designed, tested, and refined themselves
Each individual concept is explained. Each exercise proves it. Each week builds upon the last.
"Field Guide to High School is not a pep talk. Not a collection of generic tips. Not a list of strategies to try someday. It is a complete preparation program. By Week 8, the student doesn't just understand these skills, they will own a working system they built themselves.
"Field Guide to High School: is specifically designed and intended for:
Parents of rising 9th graders who want their student to enter high school prepared, not reactive
Families who know their student is capable but not yet consistent
Students who have never been explicitly taught how to organize, plan, and study effectively
Any family facing the middle-to-high-school transition and looking for something structured
"Field Guide to High School: An 8-Week Program to Build the Skills High School Demands" is designed for completion during the summer before high school. But it is impressively effective anytime a teenage student needs to build the foundation that highschool school teachers assumed they already had.
The student builds the system. The system does the rest.
Critique: This large format (8.27 x 1.49 x 11.69 inches, 3.33 pounds) paperback edition of "Field Guide to High School: An 8-Week Program to Build the Skills High School Demands" by Greg Wilson is an ideal DIY course for preparing students on how to take maximum advantage of all that highschool has to offer them. It is especially and unreservedly recommended for the parents of 14/15 year old highschool bound students, middle school and highschool school counselors, home-schooling families with students entering the public highschool system. It should be noted that this trade paperback edition of "Field Guide to High School: An 8-Week Program to Build the Skills High School Demands" is also readily available in a digital book format (Kindle, $9.99).
Editorial Note: Greg Wilson is the author of "Field Guide to High School and the Adult Companion", a parallel guide for parents and educators. His books grew out of his own experience as a parent, combined with a professional background in process and systems design. Together they form an eight-week program that helps students preparing for high school build the executive function skills high school demands: tracking their own work, planning past today, studying in ways that stick, and asking for help before a small gap becomes a real one. Grounded in cognitive science, the program does not hand students a fixed routine. It walks them through designing and running their own system, adjusted to how they actually work, so the skills hold up in high school and beyond. Mr. Wilson founded Dotted Eye Press (www.dottedeyepress.com), the independent publisher of the series.
Kids These Days: Effective Strategies for Coaching Gen Z and Beyond
Betsy Butterick
https://www.betsybutterick.com
Independently Published
9798999251244, $29.99, PB, 306pp
Amazon
https://www.amazon.com/Kids-These-Days-Effective-Strategies/dp/B0GFY1PJJ8
Synopsis:
With the publication of "Kids These Days: Effective Strategies for Coaching Gen Z and Beyond", communication specialist Betsy Butterick helps coaches and leaders bridge the generational gap.
Written with an impressive clarity, compassion, and humor, Betsy explains what makes today's athletes different -- and how to adjust your approach without compromising your standards.
Drawing from years of coaching experience and consulting across teams and organizations, Betsy dives into the social, cultural, and technological forces that shaped this generation, offering real talk on issues like communication styles, mental health, work ethic, and motivation.
Each chapter offers actionable strategies to better communicate and connect with "kids these days" for individual and team success.
Within the pages of "Kids These Days" you will find:
Actionable tools to implement right away through end-of-chapter "practice plans". Proven strategies drawn from years of work in the field with athletes at all levels and grounded in data on Gen Z and Gen Alpha.
Practical methods to communicate clearly and foster connection while retaining your authentic voice. Relevant soultions to real challenges like short attention spans, social media influences, and fear of failure.
Sustainable approaches to expedite athlete development, while making coaching healthier, more sustainable, and a whole lot more enjoyable.
Additional resources for communication best practices to strengthen the quality of the coach-athlete relationship.
"Kids These Days" gives you the tools to coach today's athletes with tomorrow in mind, turning the challenge of "kids these days" into a distinct competitive advantage.
Critique: Exceptionally informative and thoroughly 'reader friendly' in organization and presentation, "Kids These Days: Effective Strategies for Coaching Gen Z and Beyond" by Betsy Butterick is an ideal 'DIY' instructional guide that will prove invaluable for anyone having to train, teach or coach young athletes in any sport or recreational activity. While unreservedly recommended for personal, professional, public school, community, and college/university library Sports Coaching collections and supplemental Sports Psychology curriculum studies lists, it should be noted that this paperback edition of "Kids These Days" is also readily available in a digital book format (Kindle, $9.99).
The Jobs/Careers Shelf
The New Physician's Handbook
Stuart G. King, MD, MBA
Tsk Publishing LLC
9798994732120, $24.99, HC, 154pp
Amazon
https://www.amazon.com/New-Physicians-Handbook-Prescription-Fulfillment/dp/B0H1YKF8DF
Barnes & Noble
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-new-physicians-handbook-stuart-c-king/1150087963
Synopsis: Medical students, residents in training, and practicing physicians are taught how to diagnose, treat, and save lives. But no one teaches them how to avoid career burnout, manage healthcare economics, protect themselves from lawsuits, or build financial security while maintaining real work-life balance. Many push harder, take on more shifts, and sacrifice personal time --- only to feel exhausted, financially uncertain, or disconnected from the life they worked so hard to build.
"The New Physician's Handbook: A Practical Prescription for Medical, Financial, and Personal Fulfillment " by Dr. Stuart C. King delivers the missing education medical professionals never received.
In this practical, no-nonsense guide, Dr. King (an MBA-board-certified anesthesiologist, former academic leader, and physician who retired early on his own terms) explains how to design a sustainable, ethical, and fulfilling medical career. Drawing from his decades of experience inside hospitals, private practice, and healthcare management, Dr. King exposes the realities of doctor mental health, malpractice risk, specialty selection, and wealth building in modern medicine.
With "The New Physician's Handbook", novice physicians entering the medical profession will learn how to:
Set boundaries based on emotional bandwidth - preventing burnout while improving patient care.
Understand malpractice realities, tail insurance, and lawsuit reporting so you're never blindsided.
Navigate specialty choice by evaluating training length, compensation scale, and on-call demands.
Decode how money flows in healthcare so you can negotiate confidently and build real wealth.
Align your happiness goals with your career decisions to protect both family life and professional longevity.
For those new to the practice of modern medicine and want to create a medical career that supports a life that is not consumed b it, "The New Physician's Handbook" is practical DIY handbook that is an ideal physician's operating manual for career clarity, financial literacy, and wellness for doctors and medical practitioners.
Critique: Comprehensive, 'real world' practical, exceptionally well written, and thoroughly 'reader/user' friendly in organization and presentation, "The New Physician's Handbook: A Practical Prescription for Medical, Financial, and Personal Fulfillment" by Dr. Stuart C. King should be required reading for anyone wanting to enter the medical professional -- and has a great deal of value for those already practicing medicine whether individually or as part of a health provider group or clinic. While unreservedly recommended for personal, professional, and college/university library Medical Practice/Financial Management collections and supplemental curriculum studies lists, it should be noted for medical students, medical practitioners, and non-specialist general readers with an interest in the subject that this hardcover edition of "The New Physician's Handbook" from Tsk Publishing LLC is also available in paperback (9798994732106, $16.99) and in a digital book format (Kindle, $9.99).
Editorial Note: Stuart C. King, MD, MBA (Facebook: stuart.king.370) is a board-certified physician, educator, and former university trustee with more than three decades in anesthesiology, pain medicine, and academic leadership. After a distinguished career spanning both private practice and academic medicine, he chose when, how, and why to walk away and now helps other physicians do the same. He lives in coastal South Carolina with his wife, where they enjoy sailing, traveling, and spending time with their children.
The Health/Medicine Shelf
Your Labs Are Fine. You're Not.
Joy Stephenson-Laws
Independently Published
9798993974057, $59.99, HC, 316pp
Amazon
https://www.amazon.com/Your-Labs-Fine-Youre-Not/dp/B0H387KVXD
Barnes & Noble
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/your-labs-are-fine-youre-not-joy-stephenson-laws/1150278253
Synopsis: "Your Labs Are Fine. You're Not.: Understanding the Mineral Deficiencies Your Doctor Can't See" by John Stephenson-Laws was specifically written for the non-specialist general reader who has experienced something is wrong -- but no one has been able to explain it. For readers who have been to doctors, had the tests, only to see everything coming back as "normal."
But don't feel normal. Who feel exhausted, foggy, anxious, achy-like their body is working against them.
"Your Labs Are Fine. You're Not.: Understanding the Mineral Deficiencies Your Doctor Can't See" is about the gap between what tests are designed to catch and how people actually feel day-to-day. It focuses on minerals-nutrients that are often under-consumed, under-tested, and overlooked when symptoms don't rise to the level of disease.
Minerals are not the answer to everything. But for many people, they're a missing piece. Because that piece might be theirs, "Your Labs Are Fine. You're Not.: Understanding the Mineral Deficiencies Your Doctor Can't See" is essential reading. But it isn't a book having to be read from cover to cover. Rather it is specially designed to meet readers where they are -- whether they are barely functioning and need the simplest possible next step, or are finally stable and ready to understand how everything fits together.
With "Your Labs Are Fine. You're Not.: Understanding the Mineral Deficiencies Your Doctor Can't See" you as the reader can start where you are -- not where you think you should be.
Critique: Extraordinarily 'reader friendly' in style, organization and presentation, this large format (8.5 x 1 x 11 inches, 2.81 pounds) hardcover edition of "Your Labs Are Fine. You're Not.: Understanding the Mineral Deficiencies Your Doctor Can't See" by certified wellness coach Joy Stephenson-Laws is essential and invaluable reading and a prized pick for personal, professional, community, and college/university library Health/Medicine collections and supplemental Health & Medicine curriculum studies lists. Of special and particular relevance for medical students and practitioners, as well as non-specialist general readers with an interest in the role and impact of nutrition with respect to physical illnesses and disease, it should be noted that this hardcover edition of "Your Labs Are Fine. You're Not.: Understanding the Mineral Deficiencies Your Doctor Can't See" is also available in paperback (9798993974064, $49.99) and in a digital book format (Kindle, $19.99).
Editorial Note: Joy Stephenson-Laws, JD, is the founder of Proactive Health Labs, a national health education nonprofit helping people take charge of their health-especially when doctors can't figure out what's wrong. Through Proactive Health Labs, Joy and her team have published hundreds of evidence-based articles helping people understand their bodies and advocate for their health. That educational library is available free at phlabs.org/education.
The Biography/Memoir Shelf
Passport to Freedom: From Tehran to Triumph
Nizam Missaghi
Regalo Press
https://regalopress.com
9798895654736, $21.99, PB, 240pp
Amazon
https://www.amazon.com/Passport-Freedom-Nizam-Missaghi-M-D/dp/B0GRJB1T74
Barnes & Noble
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/passport-to-freedom-nizam-missaghi-md/1149636010
Synopsis: Nizam Missaghi was seven years old when he was expelled from school for the first time in Tehran -- not for misbehavior or poor grades, but for belonging to a faith the Islamic Republic refused to recognize. In post-revolutionary Iran, being Baha'i meant fractured futures: no university, no profession, no way to support a family.
Yet hidden in a dresser drawer was a golden ticket: a United States passport quietly renewed every five years in secret.
Born in the United States and taken back to Iran as an infant, Nizam grew up free on paper and trapped in practice, watching his possibilities shrink with each passing year.
As adolescence gave way to urgency, Nizam had to decide whether hope was worth the risk of escape. With surveillance closing in and many doors slammed shut, he faced an unthinkable choice: remain invisible or gamble everything on a document that could save or destroy him.
"Passport to Freedom: From Tehran to Triumph" is Nizam's gripping memoir of faith, identity, and the fragile line between belonging and exile -- where freedom is never guaranteed, and survival depends on who dares to help you carry it. At a time when authoritarian regimes cloak oppression in the language of culture and faith, Nizam's unbelievable journey reminds us what is lost when conscience is outlawed -- and why America remains a refuge worth choosing!
Critique: Deftly written, emotionally compelling, intensely personal but with a universal resonance, "Passport to Freedom: From Tehran to Triumph" by Nizam Missaghi M.D. is an extraordinary, memorable, inspiring, and unreservedly recommended pick for community and college/university library Contemporary Biography/Memoir collections. It should be noted for the personal reading lists of anyone with an interest in Bahi communities in Islamic dominated countries, as well a Immigrant/Emigrant biographies and memories, that this paperback edition of "Passport to Freedom: From Tehran to Triumph" from Regalo Press is also available in a digital book format (Kindle, $25.99) and as a complete and unabridged audio book (Blackstone Publishing, 9798212664608, $45.95, MP3-CD).
Editorial Note: Nizam Missaghi, MD, is an Iranian American physician. He left his native Iran after the completion of high school due to being deprived of access to higher education as a religious minority in the Islamic Republic. After completion of his residency in anesthesiology, he moved to the Phoenix metro area, where he is a founding member of Grand Canyon Anesthesia and a clinical assistant professor of anesthesiology at the University of Arizona School of Medicine and Midwestern University. He currently serves as the chairman of the board for Iran Human Rights Documentation Center.
Rickover: Underway, My Way
Joann Pasquale DiGennaro and Joe David
Independently Published
9798259184978, $29.95, HC, 339pp
Amazon
https://www.amazon.com/Rickover-Underway-Joann-Pasquale-DiGennaro/dp/B0GZ8QNSYS
Synopsis: Admiral H.G. Rickover (27 January 1900 - 8 July 1986) transformed the U.S. Navy through his unwavering commitment to excellence and his mastery of nuclear engineering.
Rising from the slums of Poland, he lead the way to the development of the first nuclear-powered submarine, the Nautilus, and the first civilian nuclear power plant, Shippingport Power Station.
Rickover was both a bold thinker and a fierce fighter. He lived by his rules without compromising principle.
As a leader, he was often considered acerbic, unorthodox, demanding, and unyieldingly committed to his point of view. He was both hated and loved for his achievements and eccentricities throughout his 64-year military career. Despite the resistance from the Navy and from industry, he got things done, building the Nautilus in just five years.
When he died, he left behind a legacy, a foundation devoted to preparing young scholars for careers in STEM.
Critique: "Rickover: Underway, My Way" isn't just another military biography about a great man in American history. It is also presents a unique and inspiring life story that provides a pathway to achieving greatness for a new generation of readers. Exceptionally well written, organized and presented by co-authors Joe David and Joann Pasquale DiGennaro, "Rickover: Underway, My Way" is an unreservedly recommended pick for personal reading lists, as well as an exeptional addition for community and college/university library American Military Biography/Memoir collections and supplemental 20th Century American Naval History curriculum studies lists.
Editorial Note #1: Joe David is the author of six books. Three of them (The Infidels, Teacher of the Year, The Fire Within) are available as eBooks. Both Teacher of the Year and The Fire Within are powerful examinations of important concerns in education. For two years, The Fire Within was on the reading list at American University. It has also received national public attention. For about nine years in the 1980s, Mr. David was a frequent radio and television talk show guest in major U.S. cities, where, as a former educator of 14 years, he candidly discussed issues in education.
Editorial Note #2: Joann DiGennaro is President of the Center for Excellence in Education, formerly the Admiral H.G. Rickover Foundation, which she helped to found with the late Admiral in 1982. Three former Presidents, Nixon, Ford, and Carter, served as Honorary Trustees of the Foundation's Board of Trustees, the only Board on which the three served together.
The General Fiction Shelf
Nowhere to Go but Everywhere
Jessica Rao
https://jessicarao.com
Ten 16 Press
c/o Orange Hat Publishing
https://www.orangehatpublishing.com
9781645388197, $16.99, PB, 282pp
Amazon
https://www.amazon.com/Nowhere-but-Everywhere-Jessica-Rao/dp/1645388190
Barnes & Noble
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/nowhere-to-go-but-everywhere-jessica-rao/1150853011
Synopsis: Helena Vinci might like grunge and Camel Lights, but she's not a fan of frat boys or anything else about Albany college life. When she drops out and takes a job waiting tables near the Capitol, her plan is to save up to see "the real world" out west. But soon she finds herself trapped in a new way, torn between two men - a sexy DJ and a fellow slacker with wanderlust - and a third, a politician who promises financial security, but at a price. When and how will Helena learn that you don't have to go on the road to find yourself?
Critique: Original, deftly crafted, and an inherently fascinating read from start to finish, "Nowhere to Go but Everywhere" by author Jessica Rao is a riveting coming-of-age novel about the risks and rewards of living a self-defining life toward self-defining goals. As a novelist, Jessica Rao has a genuine flair for the kind of character and narrative storytelling style that raises her fiction to an impressive level of literary eloquence. While unreservedly recommended for personal reading lists and community library Contemporary Romance & Coming of Age Fiction collections, it should be noted that this paperback edition of "Nowhere to Go but Everywhere" from Ten16 Press is also available in a digital book format (Kindle, $9.99).
Editorial Note: Jessica Rao (https://jessicarao.com) is an award-winning journalist and media professional who has held contributor roles at CNBC and Gannett and overseen communications for Fortune 500 companies. In addition to her media career, she is the Vice President of the White Plains Library Foundation and she hosts and produces literary events.
H2ONU
Ray Culver II
H2onu Inc.
https://h2onu.com
9798992233308, $79.99, HC, 752pp
Amazon
https://www.amazon.com/H2onu-Ray-Culver-II/dp/B0H4S7W9GW
Barnes & Noble
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/h2onu-ray-culver-ii/1150369330
Synopsis: Ray Hershey never expected his search for love and meaning to place him at the center of a global conspiracy. When a revolutionary energy technology emerges with the potential to end humanity's dependence on oil and reshape civilization itself, powerful interests move quickly to suppress it. As governments, spies, corporations, and secret networks converge, Ray is thrust into a race against forces determined to keep the world exactly as it is.
But the deeper Ray digs, the more he discovers that the battle is larger than energy, politics, or power.
When oil and water collide... when the teachings of Jesus and Muhammad, the fire of Pele, and the visions of ancient civilizations begin converging with quantum physics, Chinese espionage, environmental collapse, and emerging technology, a hidden pattern emerges beneath human history itself.
Across cultures separated by oceans and centuries, the same warning appears again and again as ancient symbols, hidden codes, and forgotten knowledge emerge, all pointing toward the same impossible conclusion.
As the world edges toward catastrophe, Ray must confront a question far older than science itself:
Do we shape our destiny... or merely discover it?
Critique: Advertised as a love story wrapped inside a thriller wrapped inside a warning, "H2ONU" (which took the author some eight years to write) is all the more impressive when considering that it is Ray Culver's debut as a novelist. "H2ONU" is an impressive saga of a story that deftly blends science, spirituality, ancient knowledge, political unease, and emotional gravity into an original, deftly crafted, and inherently fascinating story about humanity's future and the choices that define it. Some of it is fiction. Some of it isn't. As a novelist, Ray Culver's impressive flair for the kind of character and narrative driven storytelling style is ideally suited to providing the reader with an entertaining, thought-provoking, and memorable read from start to finish. This hardcover edition of "H2ONU" is unreservedly recommended for personal reading lists and community library techno-thriller fiction collections.
Editorial Note: Ray Culver (https://h2onu.com/about) lives and writes from Hawai'i. The title of his novel is the question. H2O - water. NU - new. Or: H2O, n, u - and you. A code people don't notice until they do. "H2ONU" is sized, structured, and written so the act of reading it becomes its own kind of reveal.
The Historical Fiction Shelf
Beyond the Sky's Edge
Pat Wahler
https://patwahler.com
Evergreen Tree Press
9798986799131, $17.99, PB, 348pp
Amazon
https://www.amazon.com/Beyond-Skys-Edge-Pat-Wahler/dp/B0HD9DXBBR
Barnes & Noble
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/beyond-the-skys-edge-pat-wahler/1151118668
Synopsis: St. Louis, 1912.
Livvie Newcomb longs for a future beyond the one society expects of her. After a tragedy shatters her family's comfortable status, she resolves to chart a course of her own -- one that leads her into the daring new era of aviation.
Defying convention, she pursues flying lessons at Kinloch Field, where intrepid pilots are changing the world. When a series of menacing incidents jeopardize not only her training but her life, Livvie realizes she has become a target.
She finds an ally in a young instructor who understands both the risks of flight and the cost of courage. But can they uncover the truth before an unseen adversary destroys everything and everyone Livvie has fought to protect?
Set against the dawn of air travel and featuring real-life aviation pioneers, "Beyond the Sky's Edge" is an unforgettable story of sacrifice, resilience, and the price of pursuing the impossible.
Critique: Original, deftly crafted, compelling, "Beyond the Sky's Edge" is a fascinating read from start to finish. Her exceptional, character and narrative driven storytelling style raises this World War I era novel by Pat Wahler to an impressive level of literary excellence. While also available for in a digital book format (Kindle, $5.99), this paperback edition of "Beyond the sky's Edge" is especially and unreservedly recommended for both personal reading lists and community library Historical Fiction collections.
Editorial Note: Pat Wahler (https://patwahler.com) is winner of Western Fictioneers' Best First Novel of 2018, and Walter Williams Award winner for her debut novel, "I am Mrs. Jesse James". She is also an avid reader with a special passion for historical fiction, women's fiction, and stories with heart.
The LGBTQ Fiction Shelf
Cake Walk: A Novel, second edition
Douglas Bell
www.douglasbellbooks.com
Bumbershoot Press
9798998582547, $21.50, PB, 317pp
Amazon
https://www.amazon.com/Cake-Walk-2nd-Novel-Love/dp/B0GVTJQLRF
Barnes & Noble
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/cake-walk-2nd-edition-douglas-bell/1150315747
Synopsis: You did everything right. You learned the rules, worked hard, stayed composed, and built a life that earned respect. You became the person everyone expected you to be. Because in a world that doesn't always make room for you, belonging can feel like survival. But what if the life you built no longer feels like your own?
Bryan Hicks knows that feeling. A successful Black executive in Houston's oil and gas industry, he has spent decades mastering control, conformity, and the performance of heterosexual masculinity. Then he meets Nadia -- a confident transgender woman who lives openly and unapologetically.
Falling in love with her forces Bryan to confront questions he's spent a lifetime avoiding. Is he betraying the community that shaped him? Or discovering a deeper truth about who he has always been?
Through love, meditation, and Buddhist wisdom, Bryan begins a journey beyond shame, fear, and expectation toward a life lived honestly. What follows is a new kind of coming-out story -- one that asks whether coming out is not about becoming someone else, but finally embracing the person you have always been.
Critique: Now in a second edition, "Cake Walk: A Novel" by Douglas Bell is about (in the author's words), 'the pressure to perform, the longing to belong, the fear of being seen, and the courage it takes to become yourself'. "Cake Walk" is a deftly crafted and original queer literary novel that introduces the reader to cis-trans romance, queer identity, community, spiritual awakening, and the transformative power of living your truth. Timely and timeless, "Cake Walk" showcases author Douglas Bell's genuine flair for the kind of character and narrative driven storytelling style lifts his novel to an impressive level of literary excellence. Also available for personal reading lists in a digital book format (Kindle, $9.99), this paperback edition of "Cake Walk" from Bumbershoot Press is an especially and unreservedly recommended addition to personal, community, and college/university library Contemporary LBGTQ+ Literary Fiction collections.
Editorial Note: Douglas Bell (www.douglasbellbooks.com) is a Black author based in Houston, Texas, writing literary fiction that centers Black male voices and draws upon the quiet wisdom of meditation-rooted in Buddhist philosophy-as a path to reveal our best selves. His storytelling explores identity, privilege, love, and transformation, illuminating the inner lives of complex characters. Before becoming a novelist, Bell told stories as a magician-captivating audiences through illusion and performance. Today, he brings that same sense of wonder to literary fiction, using story not only to entertain but to invite reflection. His work encourages readers to look inward and recognize that their own lives - complex, imperfect, and evolving - hold meaning. He is the founder of Bumbershoot Press, an independent imprint committed to publishing fiction that reflects individual growth and reveals our shared humanity. All of Bell's work is set in Houston and grounded in the city's cultural and political landscape.
The Western Fiction Shelf
Sing to Me Billy the Kid
Frances Bonney Jenner
www.francesbonneyjenner.com
Speaking Volumes LLC
https://speakingvolumes.us
9798890223739, $19.95, PB, 330pp
Amazon
https://www.amazon.com/Sing-Billy-Frances-Bonney-Jenner/dp/B0GGTPP4RJ
Barnes & Noble
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/sing-to-me-billy-the-kid-frances-bonney-jenner/1149207534
Synopsis: Lost in the afterlife, Billy the Kid tells his story...
It's Wild West, Silver City, New Mexico, 1874. Almost 14, Billy can sing and dance better than anybody, but that won't save his mother Catherine, who is deathly ill with consumption. When Catherine discovers Billy's plan to steal jewels to pay for medicine, she warns him that he'll hang before he's 21 if he doesn't change. Guilt haunts Billy after her death.
17-year-old Billy lands a job working on a ranch in Lincoln County. Everything is okay until a gang comes for Billy's boss, John Tunstall. His dead mother's prophecy seems to be coming true. And Billy is drawn into The Lincoln County Wars.
The governor offers a reward to capture Billy, dead or alive, and Sheriff Pat Garrett, the local sheriff, hunts him down. On the run, Billy meets and falls in love with the Spanish beauty, Paulita.
Critique: Although a deftly crafted work of fiction, with the publication of "Sing to Me Billy the Kid" novelist Frances Bonney Jenner offers a new perspective on the famous outlaw known as Billy the Kid. As a young man on the western frontier, the call to fight injustice draws him powerfully into a web of destiny and a desire for redemption no outlaw can expect. A fun and fascinating read from start to finish, and also available from Speaking Volumes in a digital book format (Kindle, $6.99), this paperback edition of "Sing to Me Billy the Kid" is an especially and unreservedly recommended addition to the personal reading lists of action/adventure western fans and community library collections.
Editorial Note: Frances Bonney Jenner (www.francesbonneyjenner.com) grew up in a big extended family of eccentric Texas storytellers spinning yarns, including her grandmother, a poet, descended from Kentucky pioneers. As a lover of words, she became a professional librarian, reading tall tales to children and peddling YA Lit to teens. Frances and her husband traveled all 2000 miles of the California Trail to research her award-winning novel, Prairie Journey. She shares the name Bonney with William Bonney, Billy the Kid, and was inevitably drawn to his New Mexico haunts to research and write his story.
The Mystery/Suspense Shelf
The Third Day
L. P. Hoffman
www.lphoffman.com
Hope Springs Media
https://www.hopespringsmedia.com
9781935375081, $21.95, PB, 392pp
Amazon
https://www.amazon.com/Third-Day-Three-Peril-Trilogy/dp/1935375083
Barnes & Noble
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-third-day-l-p-hoffman/1147150394
Synopsis: "The Third Day" is the gripping conclusion of author L. P. Hoffman's 'The Third Peril Trilogy', and continues to follow the lives of a disillusioned journalist, a young political blogger, a reluctant lawyer, his heartbroken sister and her son, and the sojourners at Hope Springs.
Of special note is Zeke -- the mysterious old man with a long white beard who wears Hawaiian shirts. He drives a Rambler station wagon with a seemingly endless tank of gas as he weaves in and out of the lives of each character.
The geopolitical landscape is changing rapidly. Alistair Dormin, Chairman of the World Reserve Bank, has secured his position as the global leader, and he is now imposing even stricter policies on economic activities, free speech, and religion. All over the world, people must now make life or death decisions.
But what will you do in the end?
Critique: Concluding L. P. Hoffman's 'The Third Peril Trilogy' (the first two titles being "The Third Peril" and "The Third Woe"), "The Third Day" continues to showcase Hoffman's memorably impressive and character driven storytelling style that is ideal for the mystery/suspense genre. Original, exceptional, and an inherently fascinating and fun read from start to finish, "The Third Day" is an unreservedly recommended pick for personal reading lists and community library Mystery/Suspense collections. It should be noted that this paperback edition of "The Third Day" from Hope Springs Media is also readily available in a digital book format (Kindle, $2.99).
Editorial Note: L. P. Hoffman (www.lphoffman.com) is an award-winning author of literary fiction who uses mystery and suspense to write about culturally relevant, sometimes controversial, issues written from a multiple third-person viewpoint with a braided plot chain that propels the reader through the story. Literary-fiction novels by L. P. Hoffman currently include The Canaan Creed, Shadow of the Piper, and The Third Peril Trilogy (The Third Peril, The Third Woe, and The Third Day).
The Fantasy/SciFi Shelf
The Soul Mesh: First Signal
J. K. Voran
Independently Published
https://thesoulmesh.com
9798186088202, $24.99, HC, 453pp
Amazon
https://www.amazon.com/Soul-Mesh-First-Signal/dp/B0H83LG59W
Synopsis: Humanity was never as free as it believed.
Minsu Kim is an ordinary office worker -- until memories of a life he never lived begin surfacing in his mind. Then he discovers the Mesh.
For thousands of years, an unseen system has manipulated human consciousness from the shadows, shaping history while keeping humanity unaware of the forces surrounding it.
As strange visions and impossible encounters begin to converge, Minsu is drawn into a hidden conflict that reaches far beyond Earth -- and beyond the limits of human perception.
What begins as a personal awakening becomes something far more dangerous. There are forces that want humanity to remain exactly as it is. And Minsu may be remembering the one thing they need him to forget.
What if your life was never entirely yours?
Critique: An original and deftly crafted dystopian science fiction thriller that explores consciousness, ancient civilizations, and the hidden structures shaping human reality, "The Soul Mesh: First Signal" by J. K. Voran launches an ongoing series that will follow humanity's awakening beyond the boundaries of ordinary reality. Showcasing the author's exceptional and genuine flair for the kind of character and narrative driven storytelling style that is so perfectly apt for metaphysical science fiction and unreservedly commended to the personal reading lists of dedicated science fiction fans. While an ideal addition to community library Contemporary Science Fiction collections, it should be noted that "The Soul Mesh: First Signal" is also available in paperback (9798185928202, $16.99) and in a digital book format (Kindle, $4.99).
Editorial Note: J. K. Voran is a Korean author and visual storyteller based in Seoul, Korea. Blending philosophical questions with fast-paced suspense, his stories combine scientific imagination, mythology, and global conspiracies into expansive worlds where every mystery is connected.
Shadows Beneath the Ruins
Jake B. Cage and Kim A. Pierce
KAJE Legacy LLC
9781972516102, $14.99, PB, 244pp
Amazon
https://www.amazon.com/Shadows-Beneath-Ruins-Enclave-Mystery/dp/1972516108
Barnes & Noble
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/shadows-beneath-the-ruins-jake-b-cage/1150981483
Synopsis: The tragedy at Edendale continues to cast a deathly shadow, and young hacker, Echo, remains haunted by the attack on his best friend and co-worker, Black Condor.
Meanwhile, ex-Marine Raider, Goldie, is determined to find Elsa. Rex, the group's de facto leader, suspects the missing woman knows much more about the creators of CASCADE than she lets on.
When scavengers attack, the bonds these friends have formed are put to the test like never before. Buried secrets from the old world claw their way to the surface: hidden enclaves, vengeful alliances, and a killer who strikes from the shadows.
Can Echo, Goldie, and Clara make it to St. Louis before the Angels of the New Dawn hunt them down? Will Rex and the others locate Agent Red before he pulls the trigger on the end of the world? And will the Sin Eater ever be brought to justice for his horrific crimes?
Survival was never just about the ruins above ground. Not when the real horrors lurk beneath.
Critique: "Shadows Beneath the Ruin" by co-authors Jake Cage and Kim Pierce takes place in a time where rogue AI that has taken control of the world, a brutal murder remains unsolved, and a band of misfits walk the land, trying to survive while seeking answers that might one day bring them peace. "Shadows Beneath the Ruin" is the fourth book in the science fiction/techno thriller series 'The Enclave Mystery' series. An inherently riveting read from start to finish, "Shadows Beneath the Ruin" is especially and unreservedly recommended for the personal reading lists of apocalyptic science fiction fans and community library Science Fiction collections. It should be noted that this paperback edition of "Shadows Beneath the Ruin" from KAJE Legacy LLC is also available in a digital book format (Kindle, $9.99).
Editorial Note: The other three titles in co-authors Jake Cage and Kim Pierce "The Enclave Mystery Series" include: Battle Within The Ruins (January 2025); Echoes Beneath The Ruins (September 2025), Truth Beneath The Ruins (February 2026).
The Religion/Spirituality Shelf
From Science to Bible's Conclusions
Nathanael-Israel Israel
Science180
www.Science180.com
9798993215051, $16.00, PB, 176pp
Amazon
https://www.amazon.com/Science-Bibles-Conclusions-Universe-Origin-Revisiting/dp/B0FVWCG924
Barnes & Noble
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/from-science-to-bibles-conclusions-nathanael-israel-israel/1148562222
Synopsis: With the publication of "From Science to Bible's Conclusions: How Decoding the Universe-Origin by Properly Revisiting Scientific Data-That Top Scientists Collected but Wrongly ... 3500 Years Old Biblical Account of Creation ", author Nathanael-Israel Israel reveals that the real reason scientists have been struggling to accurately understand the universe and its formation is because they have spent centuries collecting expensive, complicated, and massive amounts of data, but learned very little, if not nothing, about how to unconventionally step back to properly analyze it to decode the universe.
Consequently, people learned to collect all kinds of data everywhere to build models and imaginary concepts that betray their discernment, but they never learned to unlearn wrong theories, nor learned how to stop trashing great raw data hidden in theories they dislike or misunderstand, never knew where to find and how to properly combine the fundamental variables without which it is impossible to ever clear the way so their data can properly work for and precisely lead them to the real origin of the universe.
How can people abandon the dangerous theories they think are correct because they don't know any better ones?
That is where Dr. Nathanael-Israel Israel, the founder of Science180 came in to properly reanalyze and put under control these costly, underrated data to provide the accurate, simple solution people have been looking for throughout the ages, but that they have ignored.
"From Science to Bible's Conclusions" includes:
Getting a world class explanation of the 4 fundamental variables without which it is unquestionably impossible to ever decode the universe-formation scientifically.
Saving time and money, and enjoying a life filled with the wonderful peace that the accurate understanding of the universe-origin can create.
Discovering the errors in the scientific theories and religious belief systems about the universe-formation that are putting you at risk, and learning how to take control over cosmological threats lurking at the edge of your rational mind, faith, disbelief, or doubt.
Unlocking the accurate scientific formula to rationally test the existence of God in an historic way that uncompromisingly satisfies both believers and skeptics.
Getting all you need to become a knowledgeable person who will never again need anybody else to explain to you the origin of the universe, for, you will fully understand and articulate it yourself and rationally know whether science is really at war with religion.
Receiving deep insights that even those who went to university for years were unable to decrypt, so you can equip yourself to eliminate all forms of universe-origin prejudices.
Discovering whether the scientific data finally confirms that the formation of the Earth was completed on the 3rd day, while that of the Moon and the Sun was on the 4th day of creation like the Bible says, or whether the data proves that it took billions of years to progressively form the universe.
Understand the scientific formula that rationally puts to rest all debates about the relationship between science, faith, and all theories about the universe-origin so you can properly develop yourself, expand your network, and shape your future.
Critique: Original, iconoclastic, exceptionally informative and impressively insightful, "From Science to Bible's Conclusions: How Decoding the Universe-Origin by Properly Revisiting Scientific Data - That Top Scientists Collected but Wrongly ... 3500 Years Old Biblical Account of Creation" by Dr. Nathanael-Israel Israel is exceptional, thought-provoking, and impressively 'reader friendly' in organization and presentation style. This paperback edition of "From Science to Bible's Conclusions" is a unique and recommended pick for personal, academic, professional, community, and college/university library Biblical Theology and Science collections and curriculum studies list.
Editorial Note: Dr. Nathanael-Israel Israel (https://www.israel120.com) is a universe-origin, life-origin, and chemicals-origin expert, and founder of Science180Academy.com. He is a member of the American Chemical Society, American Society for Microbiology, Amer. Soc. of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, American Association for the Advancement of Science.
The Self-Help Shelf
Only Being
Stephen Daniel
https://stephendanielauthor.com
Path Media
www.onlybeingbook.com
9798985385762, $27.99, HC, 294pp
Amazon
https://www.amazon.com/Only-Being-Intuition-Creativity-Resilience/dp/B0H6H9RFSL
Barnes & Nobel
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/only-being-stephen-daniel/1150378615
Synopsis: With the publication of "Only Being: Awaken Your Deeper Self to Greater Intuition, Creativity, and Emotional Resilience", author Stephen Daniel deftly explores the origins of insight, intuition, creativity, and more.
In our hectic world, we can long for well-being. "Only Being" will help you to unite your physical and spiritual selves for greater wholeness, happiness, and peace. The stories and exercises comprising "Only Being" explore your deeper nature, essence, and your original home in the worlds you come from before birth and return to someday. This is the realm of your higher self. Tuning in is your most natural ability and your greatest gift.
"Only Being" inhabits the richness of connection to something greater than ourselves and the unpredictable nature of our world -- mysterious, yet full of potential for discovery and growth.
Critique: Dealing with such universal issues as love, loss, spirituality, philosophy, and an ideal combination of inspirational and motivational reading for anyone with an interest in self-mastery, self-insight, and personally directed creativity, "Only Being: Awaken Your Deeper Self to Greater Intuition, Creativity, and Emotional Resilience" by Stephen Daniel is an extraordinary, deftly written, organized instructional resource especially recommended for personal, professional, community, and college/university library Self-Help/Self-Improvement collections. It should be noted that this hardcover edition of "Only Being" from Path Media is also available in paperback (9798985385748, $17.99) and in a digital book format (Kindle, $9.99).
Editorial Note: Stephen Daniel (https://stephendanielauthor.com) is an artist and writer, recognized for his ability to articulate the random unpredictability of our world and diverse sciences, connecting everything known and unknown to an infinite consciousness he calls the larger field, revealing insights into the mysterious transcendental experiences shaping our lives.
James A. Cox
Editor-in-Chief
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