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Eva Pasco’s 100 WILD Mushrooms: Memoirs of the ’60s is a vibrant, affectionate time capsule of American childhood and culture, lovingly assembled through sharp wit and richly detailed recollections.

Reading this book from outside the United States — as someone who grew up in South Africa behind the Apartheid curtain — felt a bit like stepping into a colourful museum where some exhibits were instantly familiar and others required careful interpretation. Cartoon characters, music icons like The...

Half for You, Half for Me is one of those rare stories that seems to arrive rather than announce itself.

At first glance, it feels deceptively ordinary: a couple, a secondhand bookshop, missing time. Three days gone. No alarms blaring, no immediate panic — just the unsettling sense that something important has slipped through the cracks. And from there, the story does something quietly impressive: it refuses to rush.

Mara and Eli are wonderfully human protagonists. Their relationship feels...

Paul R. Stanton’s A Festive Verisimilitude is one of those rare stories that manages to be mischievous, thoughtful, and oddly comforting all at once.

By inviting the Devil himself back to London during the Christmas season, Stanton creates a tale that feels playful on the surface, yet quietly observant beneath it. The city becomes more than a backdrop — it is alive with history, fog, hidden corners, and human contradiction, all rendered with affection and wit.

What struck me most was how gently...

Pavlov’s Bell is not a novel that rushes at you with cheap scares. It circles. It watches. It waits. And then, slowly, it tightens its grip.

At its heart is Eve Wilson, a woman grieving the death of her husband and clinging to the fragile idea that love might be stronger than death itself. When signs begin to appear—messages, patterns, small impossibilities—her hope feels understandable, even tender. Who wouldn’t want to believe that the person they loved most is still reaching out?

But what...

You Win When You Don’t Play is a quiet, compassionate book about stepping out of emotional struggle and into a more grounded way of living.

Sharmila Sengupta approaches themes like burnout, overthinking, boundaries, and self-worth with a steady, reassuring tone. The structure — ten short lessons — makes the book easy to move through, and each chapter blends reflection with practical insight in a way that feels accessible rather than overwhelming.

What stood out most to me was the emphasis on ...

This saga was a genuinely rewarding journey.

The first book, A Threat From The Past, takes its time. The action is mostly concentrated at the beginning and the end, and at first I found myself wishing for a little more urgency in the middle. That said, the slower pace serves an important purpose: it allows the characters to breathe.

Peter, in particular, is an interesting protagonist. He is kind, well-meaning, and undeniably naïve — sometimes frustratingly so. I often wanted to shake him and...

A thoughtful, unexpectedly engaging exploration of modern desire

I don’t often read erotica, and it isn’t a genre I naturally gravitate toward. This book came to me by way of recommendation from two author friends, and I approached it with curiosity rather than expectation.

What I found was something more considered than I anticipated.

A Decade of Desire is less about shock value and more about documenting a particular intersection of technology, loneliness, fantasy, and connection. Framed as...

There’s something quietly charming about Samantha Moon.

She isn’t just a vampire — she’s a mother, a former federal agent, a private investigator, and someone still trying to make sense of a life that was violently rerouted. In Vampire Moon, that balancing act becomes the heart of the story.

This second instalment leans more confidently into what makes the series work: the contrast between the supernatural and the painfully ordinary. Samantha is hunting a dangerous crime lord and protecting a...

Some fantasy stories entertain you. Others quietly pull you into their gravity and refuse to let go.

Forbidden Realms is firmly the latter.

Michael B. Schwartz takes everything introduced in The Dreamkiller and deepens it—emotionally, mythologically, and morally. The stakes are higher, the characters more burdened by their choices, and the world itself feels darker, stranger, and more alive.

Vince Hopman remains a compelling anchor for the story, caught between disbelief and destiny, but it is...

by Eva Pasco

Oz and Kansas Revisited in Slick, Modern Writing

L. Frank Baum did not write in vain. His imaginative legacy continues to ripple through contemporary storytelling, reminding us that fantasy is not escapism, but a way of understanding ourselves. In Mr. Wizardo, Eva Pasco revisits the spirit of Oz — not by imitation, but by transformation.

Set in Baxter Springs, Kansas, the novel follows four troubled former classmates — Doreen Gale, Scott Crowe, Lyle Forrest, and Tim Woodman — drawn...

Relentless Suspense Beneath the Surface

Kristina Gallo has a talent for writing stories that feel deceptively lean, yet leave a lasting psychological imprint. The Mermaid from My Nightmare is no exception — a tightly wound psychological thriller that wastes no time pulling the reader under.

From the first pages, the tension ticks upward like a taxi meter running through unfamiliar streets — relentless, unforgiving, and impossible to ignore. Gallo’s prose is concise, controlled, and quietly...

Some books whisper their brilliance. Others pour a gin, light a cigarette, and dare you to look away.

Tilda Battenberg Is Alive is very much the latter.

Tilda is unconventional, chaotic, and quite possibly unhinged — a woman living in a luxurious villa on the Italian Riviera, juggling two unwritten books, a suspiciously observant dog with an excellent alias, a Jamaican handyman, and a life quietly coming apart at the seams. Her daughter is absent, deadlines are ignored, reality blurs, and the...

Nine Days in Rome is one of those rare novels that quietly pulls you in and then refuses to let go — the kind you read late into the night while the rest of the house sleeps.

At its centre is Atticus Winterle, a laid-off American executive living in Italy who reluctantly finds himself chaperoning a group of American high-school students through Rome. What begins as a logistical challenge quickly deepens into something far more human. As crises unfold — some chaotic, some deeply unsettling —...

Some books surprise you because they challenge expectations. Others surprise you simply because you wonder how they escaped your notice for so long. Who Holds the Power? by Furious falls firmly into the latter category for me.

From the outset, I had to repeatedly remind myself of Ivan Thompson’s age. He is written with such emotional clarity and awareness that it’s easy to forget how young he is — and that, I think, is one of the novel’s great strengths. Ivan’s journey from a mild-mannered,...

Magical Things is a tender and uplifting picture book crafted to bring joy, calm, and confidence to young hearts. With gentle affirmations and bright, magical illustrations by Prexie Beland, it’s designed to help children embrace their emotions, develop a growth mindset, and feel empowered — especially during those little wobbly moments of uncertainty.

I picked up this book to support the little swimmers I teach, and it’s become an unexpected gem in my toolkit. The kids love flipping through...

There are some stories that invite you in quietly, almost politely, and then refuse to let go. When I See You Again by Christine Anthony was one of those for me — a novel I didn’t just read, but lived in for a while.

At its heart, this is the story of Allie Cunningham, a woman trying to rebuild herself after a devastating divorce. Betrayal has left her cautious, guarded, and deeply aware of how fragile trust can be. When Lucien Dukaine — a world-renowned composer with charm, talent, and more...

I came to the final book of The Awen Trilogy having already read the first two titles, and while epic fantasy isn’t usually my preferred genre, I felt invested enough in the journey to see it through.

Across the series, Barré builds a rich mythological world with clear influences from classic fantasy traditions. The strength of the trilogy lies in its sense of scope — there’s a clear overarching vision, recurring themes, and a steady escalation of stakes as the story progresses. By the third...

Etta’s Fishing Ground is one of those rare novels that quietly takes hold of you and refuses to let go. I began reading with the intention of dipping in for a chapter or two and found myself still awake hours later, utterly absorbed, turning pages long past when I should have been sleeping.

At its heart, this is a deeply human story — rooted in place, memory, and the fragile misunderstandings that shape entire lives. Eva Pasco paints rural Rhode Island with a patient, observant hand, allowing...

Set in the Derbyshire village of Eyam during the devastating outbreak of bubonic plague in the 1660s, A Boundary of Stones explores how faith, fear, and duty collide when a community is forced to confront the unimaginable. With no understanding of how the disease spreads and no cure beyond prayer, herbal remedies, and hope, the villagers are left to interpret their suffering as divine punishment — even as death tightens its grip.

At the heart of the novel is William Mompesson, the newly...

While science fiction isn’t usually my genre of choice, AL CLARK – Gravity completely pulled me in from the first pages and didn’t let go.

Jonathan G. Meyer tells a grounded, character-driven story that makes the science feel accessible without ever dulling the sense of wonder. Al and Maggie Clark aren’t just explorers chasing a big idea — they’re working spacers with believable motivations, ambition, and heart. The concept of discovering a breakthrough in propulsion on an uncharted asteroid...