Category: Self-Publishing Book Review of the Week

We post a weekly book review of a self-published book (submitted by the author). To submit your review, please send it to selfpublishingadvice@gmail.com with a .jpg image of your cover. Self Publishing Advice will post your review and cover image on our blog.

Self-Publishing Book Review of the Week

Self Published Book Review of the Week: Portraits in Lavender

Portraits in Lavender

by Connie Torrisi

This self-published book was recently reviewed by Rainbow Reviews:

Portraits in Lavender (subtitled Flash Biographies of Some Famous Lesbians for the Newly Out Lesbian) is a historical biography with a double purpose. First of all, the goal is to reach lesbians who are newly out, whether young adults, adolescents, or chronologically mature women just stepping out of the closet. Second, the book intends to bring out of the historical closet the lives of fifteen divergent figures whose actions have marked civilization, yet whose orientation has either been overlooked or deliberately obscured. Included are famous writers, activists, a President’s First Lady, and even a notorious “criminal.”

Portraits in Lavender is not intended as a book of erotica nor as a call to lesbianism, but rather is an awakening for readers ~ gay and straight alike ~ to understand the lives of historical figures whose sexual orientation only deepened, not denigrated, their achievements. Some of those mentioned are widely known but others may be new to the reader.

The importance of this book is to alert readers to a depth of history previously unexplored, and to inspire them to investigate further into the lives of these individuals, and to commemorate their accomplishments, both public and private. This reviewer, for example, is intrigued to read further into the works of some of the very special writers mentioned in this collection. The short biographies are easy but thought-provoking reading for all of us: gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgendered, or straight.

For more information or to order the book, visit the author’s webpage: www.outskirtspress.com/PortraitsinLavender


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Self-Publishing Book Review of the Week

Self Published Book Review of the Week: The Adventures of PJ and Split Pea

The Adventures of PJ and Split Pea, Vol. 1: Fine Feathered Friends

by S.D. Moore

This self-published book was recently reviewed by www.readerviewskids.com:

“The Adventures of PJ and Split Pea, Vol. 1: Fine Feathered Friends” begins with a boy named PJ trying to decide what kind of pet he wants to get. After not being able to decide he hears a voice say hi to him. He sees that it is a bird named Split Pea. Nobody has wanted to bring Split Pea home because his feathers look like they have splits in them, so the pet shop owner just gives him to PJ.

Cayden: “In the beginning of the book it said they were going to the pet shelter to get a pet that was lost or that someone got rid of but then on the next page they were in a pet store. A pet store isn’t the Humane Society. We went to the Humane Society and brought the dogs treats and other stuff, remember? I liked that he got a bird that no one else wanted though. That was good that they gave it a home. It was funny when PJ tried to fix Split Pea’s wings. I liked that the bird could talk to him.”

Parent’s comments:
I agree with Cayden that there was a little bit of an inconsistency in the beginning about stating that “his mom was going to take him to the pet shelter to adopt a lost and abandoned pet” and then three sentences later it says that “PJ and his mom arrive at Mr. Peppy’s Pet Store.” However, they do end up with a pet that no one else seems to want so it all evens out in the end. The story of PJ and Split Pea was a creative one and we enjoyed reading about all of the “solutions” to the split wing problem. I also liked the great lessons taught in the story of self-acceptance and of accepting others the way that they are. We recommend “The Adventures of PJ and Split Pea, Vol. 1: Fine Feathered Friends” by S.D. Moore.

For more information or to buy the book, visit the author’s webpage: www.outskirtspress.com/pjandsplitpea


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Self-Publishing Book Review of the Week

Self-Published Book Review of the Week: The Heroes of Googley Woogley

The Heroes of Googley Woogley

by Dalton James

This self-published book was recently reviewed by www.readerviewskids.com:

“The Heroes of Googley Woogley” is a creative book written and illustrated by seven-year-old Dalton James. The book tells the story of a boy and his father going off to space to help the people of the rectangle-shaped plant of Googley Woogley.  Cayden: “I liked that a kid wrote this book and drew the pictures. He colors and stays in the lines good like me. I liked the pictures of the SooDos and the SooDonts. My favorite part was when the bad guys got stuck. That was funny! This was a good story.”

Parent’s comments:
We found “The Heroes of Googley Woogley” to be an interesting and fun book. I love the fact that it was created by a child! I hope that Dalton James continues to follow his dreams and produce more work in the future.

For more information or to buy the book, visit the author’s webpage: www.outskirtspress.com/DaltonJames


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Self-Publishing Book Review of the Week

Self-Published Book Review of the Week: By the Side of the Buffalo Pasture

Buffalo Pasture.coverBy the Side of the Buffalo Pasture

By Lisa Boblett

Recent review for By the Side of the Buffalo Pasture:

Kathleen Buerer’s memoir, By the Side of the Buffalo Pasture, evokes yearning for meaning in life. This woman of courage left a materially comfortable existence in pursuit of that which is intangible yet as necessary as water. Clearly and compassionately, she describes her experience of leaving her position with the Environmental Protection Agency in Washington DC and the promise of a “fat retirement check” in search of something more.

That something more begins to unfold after she reads a newspaper article about the birth of a White Buffalo on a farm in Janesville, Wisconsin. She plans to visit the farm during her next trip to the Midwest. When she gets there, she feels drawn to Miracle, a “muddy beast” that in Native American culture represents the fulfillment of an ancient prophesy.

While many in midlife might turn to materialism to avoid confronting the mystery of life, Buerer chooses to delve deeper into life’s purpose and find meaning in her own existence. She visits Miracle repeatedly over the animal’s life span of 10 years and finds herself learning lessons from those encounters. She becomes more sensitive to the environment. “Love the Earth” is fixed in her subconscious. She becomes sharply aware of consumerism and the carelessness of the modern age and examines what it means to be a woman, a keeper of the earth, a mother.

Miracle, the White Buffalo, represents an era that has passed and the author romanticizes a simpler time when herds of buffalo roamed the plains offering their lives to sustain Native peoples. The captivating mythological
Legend of the White Buffalo Calf Woman is beautifully retold and reminds us of the wisdom in the search for the still voice within. Buerer poignantly takes us back to the simplicity of the earth, the beauty of nature and the search for those things that make life worth living – love, compassion and honoring the planet and all of its inhabitants.

This book is an easy read. And well worth the journey.

To find out more about the author and her work visit www.kathleenbuerer.com.

 

 

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Self-Publishing Book Review of the Week

Self Published Book Review of the Week: Drift

sb10067280c-001Drift

by Sara San Angelo

Recent reviews for Drift:

“I had to force myself to put it down so I could savor it.  One of the best books I’ve read!”–Jackie Giorna
 
“There are so many life lessons in this book that I don’t think I will ever see things the same again.”  Cathy Raymonds

For more information or to order the book, visit http://www.driftnovel.com/


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