Parables, Psalms, Stories and Book Reviews

Psalm Stories is free on Amazon kindle until Jan 14th! 75 parables based on psalms. 75 children's stories in search of readers and reviewers. A year-and-a-half of Sunday school material, or two-and-a-half-months' bedtime reading... all for FREE! What are you waiting for? Plus...

It's listed at
  • #2 in free children's Christian fiction on kindle, and
  • #2 in free Old Testament studies, AND, DRUMROLL...
  • #1 in free spirituality>Christianity>reference on Amazon.co.uk!

http://www.amazon.com/Psalm-Stories-Five-Minute-Bible-ebook/dp/B00AQS1N0M/



Meanwhile I'm editing Infinite Sum, a companion novel to Divide by Zero, and enjoying rediscovering my characters.

I'm drinking coffee and reading too of course, so here are some book reviews in search of coffee drinkers while my Psalm Stories seek readers and reviewers.


 D. D. Chant's Broken City is an interesting post-apocalyptic novel told from the point of view of a young adult who lives at home and longs for something more from life. At home is trapped in a tower block where the city has fallen apart. And something more proves to be the uncovering a murderer's plot among those who could perhaps once have saved the world. The brave lost world is nicely described though I didn't find the future history entirely convincing. An intense tale best enjoyed with a 5-star intense cup of coffee.

Interestingly, the book I read at the same time as Broken City also involves a world torn apart by financial misdeeds, but it's set much more solidly in the present. Silver Justice, by Russell Blake, follows single-mom FBI agent Silver Cassidy on the trail of a mysterious killer. The explanations get a bit longwinded (for me, 'cause I'm not really into finance) but I really liked the characters and their nicely tuned interactions. Enjoy with a 3-star well-balanced cup of coffee.

C. S. Lakin's Conundrum is a very satisfying tale set in the present day. Drawing a beautiful balance between complex logical conundrums and the wonders of poetry, art and nature, the author draws readers into the life of a young woman whose suicidal brother seems haunted by their missing father. The right questions will hold the answers, as they do in any logical puzzle, but each path leads to more twists and turns until the answer's satisfyingly real, tying art and completeness together. Enjoy this complex novel with a 4-star complex cup of coffee.

Moving to some rather shorter stories with less weighty issues to address, Brian Barnett's Graveyard Scavenger Hunt is a delightful kids' story with good old-fashioned scares and pleasing lessons, best enjoyed with some 2-star bright lively easy-drinking coffee.

Julie Jansen's Suburban Gnome Invasion is every bit as fun as its title suggests, blending dysfunctional family life with dysfunctional nature, and pitting an everyday man and his son against the far from everyday. Enjoy with a short quick 5-star intense cup of coffee and prepare to laugh.

Dark Eclipse #16 is an anthology of essays, stories and poems from Dark Moon Digest, filled with intriguing off-beat ideas on every page. Thoroughly enjoyable and decidedly odd, it's best enjoyed with some more 5-star dark intense coffee, and watch out for the were-turkey.

And finally a likewise dark but sadly real non-fiction volume is Against Their Will, an investigation of North Carolina's scarily recent sterilization program. I learned a lot of sad facts, brought home by genuine cases of real people, and anchored in solid research and statistics. Collected from the newspaper's own investigation, it's pleasing how an analysis of wrong emphasizes the fact that we can and do improve on our past as we step forward into the future. Drink some more dark 5-star coffee as you read of these dark times.




Comments

Anonymous said…
Sounds like you have a lot going on!
January 11, 2013 at 2:37 PM
Sheila Deeth said…
Sounds like you have too Alexandra. Good luck with Lisez la Fleur
January 12, 2013 at 1:57 PM
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