分类: Literary

Woman Life Freedom edited by Bänoo Zan & Cy Strom

9/30/2025

A few months ago, I attended the book release of a new anthology of poetry called Woman Life Freedom: Poems for the Iranian Revolution, edited by Bänoo Zan and Cy Strom. This is a collection that exposes the darkest side of the lives of women worldwide, who are often regarded as second-class citizens with few rights and fewer options for escape or freedom.

For a full review of the book, check it out here at ScribesMICRO. This is a powerful anthology, emotional and heartbreaking to read. I highly recommend it.

At Play and other stories by Amita Basu

6/30/2025

At Play and other stories by Amita Basu delivers what the title promises: a sometimes playful, sometimes serious, set of short stories about a number of men and women living in modern India who have to tackle problems both big and small.

For a full review of the book, check it out here at ScribesMICRO. This is a book for anyone who’s looking to sink into a multitude of worlds featuring diverse and fascinating characters and come out the other side with a new appreciation of what it means to be human. It’s a masterful grouping of tales, and I’d highly recommend this short story collection.

Recalibrating Gravity by Mary Keating

7/29/2024

There are three words that define Mary Keating’s debut memoir in verse, Recalibrating Gravity: funny, heartfelt, and clever. It’s a collection of poems that tell Keating’s life story in a way that’s both accessible and poignant, and I enjoyed reading it from the first page to the last.

For a full review of the book, check it out here at ScribesMICRO. I’d recommend this book to readers who enjoy memoir, as well as lovers of poetry—there’s something in its pages for everyone.

Turn Your Back on the Shore by Scott Rosin

7/5/2024

For those who know a bit about me, I grew up near the beach town of Santa Cruz in California. So, I was pleased to dive into Scott Rosin's poetry collection Turn Your Back on the Shore, an eclectic and captivating look of where the ocean meets the shore and how surfers experience this breathtaking space.

For a full review of the book, check it out here at Medium. This is a collection that I’d highly recommend to readers who enjoy poetry, nature, and the beauty of man’s relationship with the ocean. It’s a wonderful journey out into the waves with the author, and I hope to visit there again soon.

A Life in Pieces by D. X. Lewis

6/22/2024

D. X. Lewis's new novella in flash is A Life in Pieces, and it contains twenty-eight stories covering a wide range of styles, from pseudo-fairy tale to gritty realism, from song lyrics to children’s narratives. The changing prose and points-of-view kept me engaged and entertained throughout.

For a full review of the book, check it out here at ScribesMICRO. I’d recommend it to readers who enjoy fictional family narratives, as well as readers looking for something a bit off the beaten path and don’t mind some dark twists and turns.

In My Secret Life by Amy Bleu

11/11/2022

Amelia lives a life on the edge in the novel In My Secret Life by Amy Bleu. She's a model who also does adult content, and she's still searching for something that she hasn't yet found — perhaps it is love, perhaps fulfillment, perhaps something she can't quite put a name to. But the search will take her far from her comfort zone and into a dangerous territory, where what she finds is far from what she wants. It's a story filled with intrigue, secrets, love, and lust, and you'll be glued to the page from beginning to end.

For a full review of the book, check it out here at Coffee Time Reviews. I read the book start to finish in one sitting because I couldn’t put it down — I just had to keep turning the page. This is a jaw-dropping ride that you can’t miss, and one that I would highly recommend.

Peek by Paul Beckman

6/4/2018

When I find an author I love to read, I will follow their writing from their first release to their latest. I recently reviewed Paul Beckman's most recent collection of short stories, Kiss Kiss, and it had me laughing out loud.

His earlier collection of short stories, Peek, is also well worth the read. It's funny and dark, literary and absurd, full of vignettes as well as touching flash fiction stories. It's full of the taboo and what people tend not to say - not out loud, at least.

For a full review of the book, check it out here at Bewildering Stories. While the stories are probably not for the faint of heart or readers who find themselves easily offended, it's a great read for the rest of us. I'd definitely recommend it!

Now I Accuse by Gary Beck

5/22/2018

I had the pleasure recently to return to the work of Gary Beck. I've read a number of his collections of poetry, and I was happy to dive into his recently released book of short stories, Now I Accuse.

The stories in this collection contain the same breadth of theme and tone as his poetry, and also a wide variety of topics and characters. The descriptions arelovely and often heartbreaking, with a few lighter, humorous stories thrown in to balance out the tone.

For a full review of the book, including a detailed look at some of my favorite stories from the collection, please feel free to visit the latest issue of Bewildering Stories and read my review here.

I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

Kiss Kiss by Paul Beckman

3/5/2018

I recently read Paul Beckman’s flash fiction collection Kiss Kiss. Many of his stories are written in a literary style, although most of them also contain comedic elements, with one or two chuckle-out-loud moments of humor. Very serious problems are at the heart of almost every story, and it’s interesting how Mr. Beckman can turn these situations on their head.

Flash fiction has always been one of my favorite forms to write, and the difficulty in creating effective flash stories is that so much has to be left out to meet that word count goal. It’s what’s not said, more than what is. And Paul Beckman is a master at making silence speak loudly.

For a full review of Kiss Kiss, check it out here at Bewildering Stories. I hope you enjoy reading it!

Perturbations by Gary Beck

1/22/2018

I’m always excited to pick up a new collection of poetry by Gary Beck, because his work challenges the status quo and our preconceptions, examining issues both universal and personal. His new work, Perturbations, is no exception.

Sometimes morose, sometimes with brief glimmerings of hope, it explores a variety of themes, some new to Mr. Beck’s repertoire and some revisted. For my full review of the book, you can find it here on Bewildering Stories.

If you'd like to learn more about Gary, I also had a great chat with him about his writing, which you can find on my blog here.

I really enjoyed reading Perturbations, and I hope you will, also.

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