bookshelves: mental-illness, contemporary, kindle, abuse, indie-publishing, inspirational, writing I expected more from The Unexpected Life of Harry Chambers, mostly because a good friend wrote and self-published it. Say what you will about Indies, self-publishing has come a long way since its inception. The likes of C.T. Phipps,Michael Sliter, and Rob Hayes, to name a few, have helped legitimize the former “last resort” of publishing. In retrospect, it wasn’t […]

bookshelves: buddy-read, contemporary, mental-illness, history, abuse, writing, literary, addictionRecommended for: everybody.DISCLOSURE: I received a physical copy from the author in exchange for an honest review. My opinions are my own. It was my own personal theory that most lifetimes could be summed up by ten to twenty moments, meaningful snippets ranging from a handful of seconds to a few spins around the clock face that […]

bookshelves: sci-fi, fantasy, gaming, technology, philosophy, litrpg, buddy-read, kindle, wuxia-xianxia, indie-publishing A big part of my excitement going into Ed White’s book stemmed from the fact that though I’d long-since been interested in what the LitRPG subgenre had to offer, I hadn’t read any. In fact, the only gaming type book I can recall reading was Orson Scott Card’s Ender’s Game.Not even the seemingly uber popular Ready […]

Holy WOWsers, Mercedes Murdock Yardley!!! You had me hooked from the first sentence, and it refused to let up until the last. Every sentence was beautiful and nuanced and purposeful, as every good writing should be. The dual perspective was a nice, needed touch, as I doubt it would have as much impact if it […]

DISCLAIMER: this is a newly revised version of my testimony of how I came to Christ. I originally wrote it in 2012, I believe. “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come..” For at least a year, probably closer to two, I would read […]

I hadn’t heard of this one until very recently, probably because it’s not one of Dekker’s actual novels. It was only thirteen pages, but as usual, Ted’s ideas were clear, and his prose flowed with ease. His heart was on full display. However, Sell Out: A Discussion On The Hidden Secret To Writing (a companion tohis Creative Way style […]

bookshelves: to-read, classics, read-with-carter, artRecommended for: to anybody with the heart of a child. Rating: 5/5 stars I remembered liking the story of Wilbur’s plight, and of Charlotte’s bravery. But that was ages ago, I reasoned, my tastes in literature had changed a lot. They had evolved into increasingly darker tastes, to the extent that I’ve grown very passionate about […]

bookshelves: classics, favorites, life-altering-books, want-to-own, african-american, sociology, library, we-need-diverse-books, academic, civil-rights-movement, equality, racism, black-lives-matter Rating: 5/5 starsRecommended for: this should be required reading, now more than ever.Heading into Alex Haley and Malcolm X’s book, I knew practically nothing about the subject, except that he was assassinated eight months prior to the publication of his life story, and that he converted to the Islamic religion. He was also a staunch advocate of the civil […]

  Almost on a whim, I decided to check out the pilot episode of the hard-hitting police procedural drama, Southland. That was two or three years ago. Not that the award-winning series was bad or anything of that nature, although I’d understand why some might make that assumption. After all, it was a relatively short […]

bookshelves: fantasy, grimdark, buddy-read, favorites, not-for-the-faint-hearted, life-altering-books Recommended to Dustin by: Petrik Recommended for: All fans of fantasy and/or grimdark. Rating: 5/5 stars   As we all know, the world was formed at the crux of Harmony and Pandemonium, two unstoppable forces that ever have, and ever will, wander the Cosmos, drawn to each other like iron and a lodestone. Early images showed […]