The General Fiction Shelf

The Bones of the World
Betsy L. Ross
https://betsylross.com
Atmosphere Press
www.atmospherepress.com
9781639886944, $18.99 Paper/$26.99 Hardcover

https://www.amazon.com/Bones-World-Betsy-L-Ross/dp/1639887423

"Here we are again. How can it be that we don't learn, that we clutch at lo= w-hanging branches of wrongs and misunderstandings from the past, fearful a= lways of difference? Why this continuing predisposition toward creating oth= erness?"

It's rare to see a novel about suffering, redemption, religious clashes, an=
d social inspection blended with a time travel piece that tests the pattern=
s and illusions of different cultures and peoples, but The Bones of the Wor=
ld speaks the language of pain and contrasts experiences ranging from Holoc= aust to Inquisition through Rachel's observant eyes.

The first note to make about this story is its lovely associations between = myth and reality. Rachel awakens in a strange mansion, having been delivere=
d by Harry, who may have drugged her to take her away from danger and prote=
ct her. The rich inspections and contrasts between mythical figures and the=
strange reality Rachel finds herself floundering in create a powerful surr= eal atmosphere from the start: "Inside the high stone walls, oaks just visi= ble from Rachel's second-story window reached for the heavens, dreaming of = the selfless beanstalk that gave its life to provide for Jack and his mothe= r."

This sets the stage with a sense of place that continues to steep the novel=
with "you are here" immersive experiences. Characters (such as Ines, charg=
ed with honoring the Ancestors by tending their tombs, even though the Chil= dren are her latest charges) are introduced to reflect the nature of loss, = survival, and ghosts that haunt the living, dead, and graveyards alike. Ros=
s is a master of contrasts as different worlds collide: "The first time the=
teenaged boys, festooned in red, white, and blue, appeared on the streets =
of the old city with automatic rifles, Rachel had been returning from a nig=
ht at the opera."

Among the astute historical and social inspections that move Rachel from pa=
st to present are thought-provoking questions about the choices her Jewish = people have made to survive, and the costs they may have unwittingly incurr=
ed as a result. This gives the novel an added layer of social and philosoph= ical reflection that will lend to book club debate as Rachel navigates Ghet=
to experiences, the Golems of Jewish legend and their various forms, her in= carnation as Sariah, living in Portugal before the Inquisition changes her = life, and disappearances that terrorize the Jewish community facing new sur= vival tactics and choices during the Holocaust.

Rachel's legacy brings with it the mandate to decide how she will react to = and live with her peoples' history of ancestral suffering. These are far fr=
om reasonable times, as Ross points out. Indeed, has reason ever guided the=
Jewish people to lives not infused with trouble? As Rachel's proximity to =
an enchanted cemetery forces her to re-examine her history and progression,=
readers receive a story that is thought-provoking in its contrasts of worl=
ds and the familiar patterns seemingly disparate situations evolve.

Ross's novel is atmospheric, compelling, and thought-provoking. Ideally, Th=
e Bones of the World will not only become part of any Jewish fiction librar=
y, but will be profiled as a book club or reader group discussion option le= nding to revised inspections of Jewish experience and tradition as "lives a=
re left unlived" and everything changes.

Hiking Underground
Amy Smiley
https://amysmiley.com
Atmosphere Press
www.atmospherepress.com
9781639885923, $17.99

https://www.amazon.com/Hiking-Underground-Amy-Smiley/dp/1639885927

"Was the whole world dreaming, or just one young woman?"

Hiking Underground is a novel about ordinary daily life in New York City th=
at assumes the surreal overlay of descriptive personal experience. It opens=
with the chapter 'I.Alice', which poses the image of a woman who "...alway=
s walked between two worlds, so it was hard to say where one began and the = other ended."

The juxtaposition of these milieus leads Alice and her readers into her pas=
t and present, from recovering from a tonsillectomy as an adult to rejectin=
g the vapid reactions and popularity of teens in favor of an individualisti=
c attitude that leads a boy to love her because "...it was the very thing t= hat made her beautiful, said the first boy who ever loved her - that way sh=
e had of expressing what lived inside of her, while others seemed to rove a= round, staring into cyberspace as they chatted from the sides of their mout= hs."

From her middle-class New Jersey roots into adulthood, Alice has been stirr=
ed and shaken by the influences and tides of society and her own role as an=
outside observer during much of it. Between her relationship to mother Jen= na, who observes her daughter with mixed pride and puzzlement, to the tides=
of life which wash her from past memory to present-day experiences and cho= ices, Alice's world and conundrums come to life with simple, yet powerful r= eflections: "It was all she ever wanted, to love with ease and laugh with e= ase. To just be."

Her father Hank might also wonder about the inevitable progression of his l= ife away from its dreams: "For all she knew, her father, Hank, was at his d= esk at that very moment, staring off into space and measuring the gulf betw= een himself and the world around him, full of disgust for family, work, and=
all the other absurd conventions that pinned him down when what he really = wanted from life was adventure. That was gone now, beaten out of him, and i=
t was getting harder to find a reason to go on doing anything at all."

Amy Smiley draws this family's disparate individuals and their dreams toget= her with the deftness of a tightly-knitted emotional quilt of dreams. She c= aptures, within this overlay, a sense of life's changes and the unexpected = influences that both attract and pull apart individuals, families, and rela= tionships. Her close attention builds atmospheric detail, philosophical and=
psychological reflection, and close inspection other characters' lives (su=
ch as Emma, who tackles the challenges of motherhood with an attention to d= etail that belays any insufficiencies in traditional approaches). Son Adam = reflects part of his mother's fluid fascination with life's realities and d= emands.

As mother and son move through urban and nature worlds, the paintings and m= etamorphosis that links Emma, Adam, and Alice become evocative dances that = move through seemingly disparate personalities to make deft connections. Th=
e result is a novel that reaches out and grasps the heart of life's progres= sion and the family relationships that form, break away, then rejoin in une= xpected ways.

Libraries looking for powerful stories of everyday life juxtaposed against = the undercurrent of extraordinary abilities and observations will find the = descriptions and connections of Hiking Underground a surreal, compelling at= traction.

Holy Water
Robert Schwab
https://robertschwab.com
Warren Publishing
www.warrenpublishing.net
9781957723648, $18.95

https://www.amazon.com/Holy-Water-Robert-Schwab/dp/1957723645

Holy Water is the coming-of-age story of new adult (and would-be doctor) La= ndon Ratliff, who has come to New Orleans to pursue his passion for healing=
people. Instead of immersing himself in traditional medicine, he confronts=
the passion and purposes that brought him to this point and profession, en= countering alternative ideas in the process.

The first note to make about Holy Water is its astute examination of not ju=
st a career, but life's meaning. Landon is an impressionable young man new =
to the wider world, and New Orleans culture offers not just opportunity, bu=
t insights into the diverse and changing nature of that world -- and his pl= ace in it.

From the story's opening lines, it's evident that young Landon is not your = typical staid medical student, but holds the uncommon ability to see life i=
n a very different way: "If you tattooed a map of the United States onto th=
e tanned, toned back of a pretty girl in a skimpy top, the Mississippi Rive=
r would coincide roughly with the course of her spine." Anatomy never looke=
d so good -- and neither has the story of an aspiring doctor.

The time is 1993 - the perfect setting for a journey of discovery. This sen=
se of extraordinary events to come emerges even during a plane trip and the=
observation of the map of America that lies below him which is, here, comp= ared to the opportunities offered by the opposite sex. This literary descri= ptive tone lends an inviting aura to a story that sashays through medical a=
nd social challenges alike, steeping Landon's world in an added New Orleans=
flavor that pulls him away from preconceived notions of his training to be= come a doctor.

As he is forced to confront memories that he's kept hidden, Landon finds hi=
s future is at stake. His long-time mentor Kiki confronts the forces changi=
ng his relationship with Landon as he moves into a love entanglement that a= lso introduces currents of change.

Robert Schwab builds an exquisite, delicate tension from Landon's life that=
at times demonstrates flowery, compelling language and at others assumes t=
he languid flow of daily life and realizations of growth: "There was a girl=
and music and a place to learn who he was and what he could become." Peopl=
e are entitled to their secrets. Even doctors. What Landon experiences in t=
he course of immersing himself both in medicine and in the culture of New O= rleans becomes a lesson in love, complex entanglements, and the introductio=
n of fate and fortune that leads him on an unexpected journey.

With its troubled waters that are stirred by new revelations and unexpected=
chance encounters, Landon's world comes alive through metaphor and experie= nce to reach out and grasp a wide audience: "...he needed an anchor, someth= ing to remind him who he was. It seemed as if everything had changed. Even = the river, so golden and beautiful at sunset last night, was an angry mess = now, belching trash and tree parts into the gaps between the rocks guarding=
the levee."

Libraries and readers looking for novels replete in New Orleans flavors tha=
t follow a blossoming young man from his career ambitions to personal succe=
ss will find Holy Water an evocative read.

The Judges
Eric J. Matluck
Next Exit Press
9798986425306, $22.95 Hardcover/$16.99 Paper/$3.99 ebook

https://www.amazon.com/Judges-Eric-J-Matluck/dp/B0BS2FT5YQ

The Judges shows how much life can alter when a simple task prompts transfo= rmation. It tells of acclaimed pianist Mary Sorabi, who wins First Prize in=
the Graffman International Piano Competition in Philadelphia at age thirty=
, and finds her world changed because of this achievement.

The judges who award her this honor open the ceremony by stating that their=
decision was fraught with challenge. Mary's response is simple: "Bullshit,=
Mary thought. No decision is ever difficult. What's difficult is rationali= zing it, especially when you have to rationalize it to someone else. And wh= ose benefit is that line for? The winner is going to think he or she didn't=
really win by that much, and the loser is going to kick himself or herself=
for having come so close but not quite making it. Losing by a single point=
is as ridiculous and cruel as being told by a doctor that he could have sa= ved you had you seen him yesterday."

While these opening events might portend a foray into musical territory, Er=
ic J. Matluck's novel takes quite a different turn, because Mary's world is= n't altered by her win so much as by the presence of a different judging pa= nel that appears in her home to assess her life. They aren't there temporar= ily. They are assigned to judge various experiences as Mary works through c= ontroversy and achievement, only to find her every choice rated on a differ= ent scale than she's ever known.

Matluck's novel embraces spiritual, psychological, and social perspectives = from the viewpoint of a nameless observer who narrates the affairs that cha= nge Mary's trajectory. This multifaceted examination lends the novel a meta= physical feel that will attract thinking readers interested in a foray into=
musical circles and higher-level considerations of their impact on ordinar=
y audiences. Mary is prompted to do much self-examination about her life pu= rpose, art, and her impact on the world. This (and the presence of the myst= erious judges) leads to different inspections of her life purpose. As an ar= tist, a critic, and a self-examiner, Mary finds within her new music progra=
m and accompanying judgments about it the courage to reconsider her life's = accomplishments.

Matluck injects wry humor into these inspections, but the real meat of the = story lies in its philosophical and artistic connections between and reflec= tions of music and life, which create astute and thought-provoking passages=
of revelation to draw readers on different levels: "...she realized that s=
he never could and never would know what Schumann was thinking, not because=
she never knew him but because she never was him. You can know someone as = intimately as you like, but you'll never really know what's running through=
his or her mind, because everybody's thoughts are locked away; cloistered.=
So she started going through her own thoughts, letting the music conjure m= emories of people and places she knew and remembered, and by doing so the m= usic started to reveal itself, with certain phrases and certain passages ev= oking images from her past that meant a lot to her. And finally, she realiz= ed, Kreisleriana did touch her and did move her, and that was when she unde= rstood the magic of how music communicates."

The result is a powerful story that cultivates musical notes to interweave = artist, composer, and judge, expanding the subject into the greater issues =
of life. Libraries looking for thought-provoking stories of artistic and pe= rsonal transformation will find The Judges an astute reflection of the powe=
r and nature of right, wrong, and those who would define and influence both=
..

Send Her Back and Other Stories
Munashe Kaseke
www.munashekaseke.com
Mukana Press
https://mukanapress.com
9780578323589, $26.89, HC, 204pp

https://www.amazon.com/Send-Her-Back-Other-Stories/dp/0578323583

Synopsis: With the publication of "Send Her Back and Other Stories", author=
Munashe Kaseke offers an impressively intimate and fresh telling of the im= migrant experience of Black women in the United States.

Equally awash with the joys of exploring a new world as well as a myriad of=
challenges, her complicated, and often tangled, female Zimbabwean protagon= ists navigate issues of identity, microaggressions, and sexism in vibrant, = indelible settings. Yet again, these are not only stories of navigating an =
at times tense US political climate, they are also marked by characters who=
rise to the top of their professional fields, seize the American dream, an=
d travel the world in glee.

As an author, Kaseke deftly peels back on the inner wranglings of character=
s caught between two worlds, be it by stories of dating outside one's cultu=
re and race or failing to assimilate upon returning home after spending tim=
e abroad.

Critique: Comprised of seventeen superbly crafted short stories that are al=
l the more impressive when considering that "Send Her Back and Other Storie=
s" is Munaskhe Kaseke's debut as a writer and clearly showcases her genuine=
flair for thought- provoking originality. A fun and thought-provoking read=
from cover to cover, "Send Her Back and Other Stories" is one of those sho=
rt story collections that will linger in the mind and memory long after the=
book itself has been finished and set back upon the shelf. While also avai= lable for personal reading lists in a paperback edition (9780578353128, $17= ..95) and in a digital book format (Kindle, $6.99), "Send Her Back and Other=
Stories" is especially and unreservedly recommended for community and acad= emic library Cultural Heritage and Contemporary Literary Fictions collectio= ns.

Editorial Note: Munashe Kaseke (www.munashekaseke.com) was born and raised =
in Harare, Zimbabwe. She migrated to the United States of America at age ni= neteen when she received a scholarship to study at Drake University in Des = Moines, Iowa. She holds Doctor of Pharmacy and Master of Public Administrat= ion degrees.

An Old Woman Walks Into a Bar
Deborah Shouse
https://www.deborahshousewrites.com
Independently Published
9798805315603, $12.95, PB, 269pp

https://www.amazon.com/Old-Woman-Walks-Into-Bar/dp/B0B4PBHBRB

Synopsis: Nursing a beer at a local bar in the middle of the day, Grace won= ders if she has anything left in the tank at age 78. Widowed and retired fr=
om teaching, she discovers renewed purpose by spearheading a free community=
preschool. But when she's ousted from the project by a younger superstar f= undraiser with a dark secret, Grace faces another quandary. Should she be t= rue to herself or do whatever it takes to reach her goal? Before she can an= swer that question, she's off catching a thief, riding a motorcycle, becomi=
ng a YouTube sensation, and maybe, just maybe, falling in love again. Grace=
puts a new twist on an ageless joke: Who knows what will happen when an ol=
d woman walks into a bar?

Critique: Unique, compelling, deftly crafted, and all the more impressive w= hen considering that is the author's debut as a novelist, "An Old Woman Wal=
ks Into a Bar" by Deborah Shouse (who is 73 years young) is a singular lite= rary work that will have a very special appeal to readers with an interest =
in Women & Family Life fiction. One of those novels that will linger in the=
mind and memory of the reader long after the book itself is finished and s=
et back upon the shelf, "An Old Woman Walks Into a Bar" is unreservedly rec= ommended for both community and academic library Contemporary Women's Ficti=
on collections. It should be noted for personal reading lists that "An Old = Woman Walks Into a Bar" is also readily available in a digital book format = (Kindle, $3.99).

Editorial Note: Deborah Shouse (https://www.deborahshousewrites.com) has be=
en featured in many anthologies, including more than five-dozen Chicken Sou=
p books. For years, she wrote a Love Story column for The Kansas City Star.=
Deborah and her life partner Ron Zoglin co-wrote Antiquing for Dummies and=
she co-authored several volumes in the Yes, You Can financial series. She = also co-leads the KC Writers Group.

Loving the Dead and Gone
Judith Turner-Yamamoto
https://turneryamamoto.com
Regal House Publishing
https://regalhousepublishing.com
Blackstone Audiobooks
www.blackstoneaudio.com
9781646032587, $17.95, PB, 256pp

https://www.amazon.com/Loving-Dead-Gone-Judith-Turner-Yamamoto/dp/164603258=
6

Synopsis: For forty years Aurilla Cutter has tended a clutch of secrets tha=
t have turned her mean. A freak car crash in 1960s rural North Carolina put=
s in motion moments of grace that bring redemption to two generations of wo= men and the lives they touch. This fatal accident becomes the catalyst for = the release of the passions, needs, and hurts in everyone affected by her h= idden past.

Darlene, a seventeen-year-old widow, struggles to reconnect with her dead h= usband while proving herself alive. Soon loss and death work their magic, d= rawing Darlene into an unlikely affair that threatens to upend Aurilla's fa= mily, and sets loose Aurilla's own memories of longing and infidelity.

Critique: Eloquent, original, memorable, "Loving the Dead and Gone" by auth=
or Judith Turner-Yamamoto is a lyrical and insightful novel that explores h=
ow both grief and love are the ties that bind. Highly recommended for commu= nity library Literary Fiction collections, "Loving the Dead and Gone" is on=
e of those novels that will linger in the mind and memory of the reader lon=
g after the book is finished and set back upon the shelf. It should be note=
d for personal reading lists that "Loving the Dead and Gone" is also availa= ble in a digital book format ($0.99) and as a complete and unabridged audio=
book (Blackstone Audio, 9798212275323, $31.95, CD).

Editorial Note: Judith Turner-Yamamoto (https://turneryamamoto.com) is an a=
rt historian who first came to writing through learning to appraise what sh=
e saw and to describe what moved her. Her work has appeared in StorySOUTH, = Mississippi Review, Snake Nation Review, and American Literary Review, amon=
g others, and in many anthologies, including Walking the Edge: A Southern G= othic Anthology, Show Us Your Papers, and Gravity Dancers. Her awards inclu=
de two Virginia Arts Commission fellowships, an Ohio Arts Council fellowshi=
p, VCCA and Fundacion Valparaiso fellowship residencies, the Thomas Wolfe F= iction Prize, the Washington Prize for Fiction, and the Virginia Screenwrit= ing Award.

Wash Ashore: A Tale of Cape Cod
Mary Petiet
https://marypetiet.com
Sea Crow Press
www.seacrowpress.com
9781735814070, $16.95, PB, 206pp

https://www.amazon.com/Wash-Ashore-Tale-Cape-Cod/dp/1735814075

Synopsis: When Olive Adams comes to Cape Cod to live in her aunt's old hous=
e, she finds her fortune shifting like the sands. Can she navigate a new li=
fe in a welcoming but mysterious house? As a dangerous hurricane barrels up=
the coast, Olive struggles to save the land next door from destruction as = she waits for her new love to return.

Critique: A surprise inheritance, a deadly hurricane, nn ancient landscape = under threat, these are the contributing elements that make "Wash Ashore: A=
Tale of Cape Cod" by Mary Petiet a simply riveting read from first page to=
last. While especially and unreservedly recommended for community library = New England themed literary fiction collections, it should be note for pers= onal reading lists that "Wash Ashore: A Tale of Cape Cod" is also readily a= vailable in a digital book format (Kindle, $8.99).

Editorial Note: Mary Petiet (https://marypetiet.com) is a writer, poet, and=
publisher from Cape Cod where her work is deeply influenced by the Cape's = nature and inspirational energy. Her work emphasizes our connection to each=
other and the natural world with a focus on positive empowerment. Mary is = the founder of Sea Crow Press.

The Editor
Thomas A. Williams
Venture Press
c/o William & Company Book Publishers
https://www.entrepreneur.com
9781878853554 $16.95, PB, 240pp

https://www.amazon.com/Editor-Brewster-Gazette-Metaphysical-Newspaper/dp/18= 78853554

Synopsis: "The Editor: How the Brewster Gazette Became the World's First Me= taphysical Newspaper" by novelist Tom Williams is the story of one John Haw= kwood, a man who meets a midlife crisis head-on when he resigns his profess= orship to buy a struggling weekly newspaper in the college town of Brewster=
, North Carolina.

When John grows weary of writing editorials lamenting the shenanigans of th=
e City Council or the scoundrels in Washington, he makes a drastic change. = Henceforth, he will editorialize not about the mundane but about the transc= endent: the nature of time, the hard problem of consciousness, and leaps of=
faith.

That's how The Brewster Gazette became the Brewster MacroCosmos, the world'=
s first metaphysical newspaper. "The Editor" not only tells the story of Ha= wkwood's adventures doing these things, but how in the process he would dis= cover his own identity.

Critique: Echoing the old theme of 'write what you know', Thomas A. "Tom" W= illiams is himself an author and publisher -- giving his novel "The Editor:=
How the Brewster Gazette Became the World's First Metaphysical Newspaper" =
a particular and entertaining reality. Of special note are the little quote=
s that open each chapter -- 'Nothing is more active than thought, for it tr= avels over the universe.' - Thales of Miletus. While especially and unreser= vedly recommended for personal reading lists in a digital book format (Kind= le, $9.95), "The Editor" will prove a unique and welcome addition to commun= ity and academic library literary fiction collections.

Editorial Note: Thomas A. Williams is the author of a series of books in th=
e writing/publishing field, including Get Paid to Write!, Poet Power: The P= ractical Poet's Guide to Publication, and How to Publish Your Own Magazine,=
Guidebook or Weekly Newspaper, now in its fifth edition and the standard i=
n its field. He has owned and edited his own weekly newspaper, regional mag= azines, and guidebooks. He now directs his own publishing company, Williams=
& Company, Publishers. (https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/22280.Thomas= _A_Williams)

The Marriage Box
Corie Adjmi
https://corieadjmi.com
She Writes Press
www.shewritespress.com
9781647420796, $17.95, PB, 288pp

https://www.amazon.com/Marriage-Box-Novel-Corie-Adjmi/dp/1647420792

Synopsis: Casey Cohen, a Middle Eastern Jew, is a sixteen-year-old in New O= rleans in the 1970s when she starts hanging out with the wrong crowd. Then = she gets in trouble and her parents turn her whole world upside down by dec= iding to return to their roots, the Orthodox Syrian Jewish community in Bro= oklyn.

In this new and foreign world, families gather weekly for Shabbat dinner; p= arties are extravagant events at the Museum of Natural History; and the Mar= riage Box is a real place -- it's a pool deck designated for teenage girls =
to put themselves on display for potential husbands.

Casey is at first shocked by this unfamiliar culture, but after she meets M= ichael, she's enticed by it. Looking for love and a place to belong, she ma= rries him at eighteen, believing she can adjust to Syrian ways. But she beg= ins to question her decision when she discovers that Michael doesn't want h=
er to go to college; he wants her to have a baby instead.

Can Casey integrate these two opposing worlds, or will she have to leave on=
e behind in order to find her way?

Critique: With a very special appeal to readers with an interest in a Jewis=
h themed coming-of-age story, "The Marriage Box" by Corie Adjmi is an excep= tionally well written and entertaining read from beginning to end, While al=
so available for personal reading lists in a digital book format (Kindle, $= 8.49), "The Marriage Box" is an quite special and unreservedly recommended = addition to community library Women/Family Life Fiction collections.

Editorial Note: Corie Adjmi (https://corieadjmi.com) is the author of the s= hort story collection "Life and Other Shortcomings", which won an Internati= onal Book Award, an IBPA Benjamin Franklin award, and an American Fiction A= ward. Her essays and short stories have appeared in dozens of journals and = magazines, including HuffPost, North American Review, Indiana Review, Mediu=
m, Motherwell, Kveller, and others. "The Marriage Box" is Corie's first nov= el.

Mr. Breakfast
Jonathan Carroll
Melville House
46 John Street, Brooklyn, NY 11201
https://www.mhpbooks.com
9781612199924, $28.99, HC, 272pp

https://www.amazon.com/Mr-Breakfast-Jonathan-Carroll/dp/1612199925

Synopsis: Graham Patterson's life has hit a dead end. His career as a comed= ian is failing. The love of his life recently broke up with him and he lite= rally has no idea what to do next. With nothing to lose, he buys a new car = and hits the road, planning to drive across country and hopefully figure ou=
t his next moves before reaching California.

But along the way Patterson does something his old self would never have ev=
en considered: he gets tattooed by a brilliant tattoo artist in North Carol= ina. The decision sets off a series of extraordinary events that changes hi=
s life forever in ways he never could have imagined. Among other things, Pa= tterson is gifted with the ability to see in real time three different live=
s that are available to him. The choice is his: The life he is leading righ=
t now, or two very different ones. In all of them there is love or fame and=
of course danger because once he has chosen, there is no telling what will=
happen next.

Critique: With the publication of "Mr. Breakfast", author Jonathan Carroll = has created a dazzling, absorbing, and deeply moving novel about the choice=
s that we have to confront and face. With a very special appeal to readers = with an interest in the themes of paranormal fantasy and magical realism, "= Mr. Breakfast" is a fun and absorbing read from first page to last. While u= nreservedly recommended for community and academic library Contemporary Lit= erary Fiction collections, it should be noted for personal reading lists th=
at "Mr. Breakfast" is also available in a paperback edition (9781685890889,=
$17.99) and in a digital book format (Kindle, $14.99).

Editorial Note: Jonathan Carroll (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonathan_Ca= rroll) is the author of seventeen novels, including the critically acclaime=
d The Ghost in Love, The Land of Laughs, and Outside the Dog Museum, for wh= ich he has won a British Fantasy award. Jonathan has also written two story=
collections, with his stories winning a Pushcart Prize, two French Fantasy=
Awards, a Bram Stoker Award, and a World Fantasy Award. His work has been = published in over thirty languages, and he has over 110,000 followers on Fa= cebook.

EDITOR'S NOTE:

The Midwest Book Review is an organization of volunteers committed to promo= ting literacy, library usage, and small press publishing. We accept no fund=
s from authors or publishers. Full permission is given to post any of these=
reviews on thematically appropriate websites, newsgroups, listserves, inte= rnet discussion groups, organizational newsletters, or to interested indivi= duals. Please give the Midwest Book Review a credit line when doing so.

The Midwest Book Review publishes the monthly book review magazines "Califo= rnia Bookwatch", "Internet Bookwatch", "Children's Bookwatch", "MBR Bookwat= ch", "Reviewer's Bookwatch", and "Small Press Bookwatch". All are available=
for free on the Midwest Book Review website at www (dot) midwestbookreview=
(dot) com

Anyone wanting to submit books for review consideration can send them to:

James A. Cox, Editor-in-Chief
Midwest Book Review
278 Orchard Drive
Oregon, WI 53575-1129

To submit reviews of any fiction or non-fiction books, email them to Frugal= muse (at) aol (dot) com (Be sure to include the book title, author, publish= er, publisher address, publisher website/phone number, 13-digit ISBN number=
, and list price).

James A. Cox, Editor-in-Chief
Midwest Book Review

--- MBSE BBS v1.0.8 (Linux-x86_64)
* Origin: ---:- FTN<->UseNet Gate -:--- (3:633/280.2@fidonet)