Underrated Reads

The Calorie Myth: How to Eat More, Exercise Less, Lose Weight, and Live Better – Jonathan Bailor

Posted on December 28, 2013 by J D Jung

(Reviewed by JD Jung) "Forget calories. Focus on hormones. Lower your set-point. Burn body fat forever." Jonathan Bailor makes it sound easy. However, I know it is easier to make clean eating a lifestyle rather than struggling with constant dieting a lifestyle. I, like many others, overindulged this holiday season. While I used to be…

Posted in Health and Fitness, How do I do that?, Reviewers' Top Picks | Tagged Diet, excercise, fitness, weight loss | Comments Off

Russian Roulette (One Eyed Jack) – Christopher J. Lynch

Posted on November 27, 2013 by J D Jung

(Reviewed by JD Jung) “There are plenty of people in this world who want to see me dead, what the hell difference does one more make” That's one of the occupational hazards of being a professional blackmailer, which John Sharp knows all too well. After all he has made a lucrative career at it. I…

Posted in Crime, Mystery and Thrillers | Comments Off

(By Glenda Anderson) “Ripped From The Headlines and Coming to Your Theater!” George Clooney’s film, “The Monuments Men,” due for release this December, was inspired by a book, not news headlines. The non-fiction “Monuments Men” by Robert Edsel was also inspired by a book: the award-winning title by Lynn H. Nicholas wherein she details the greatest…

Posted on November 19, 2013 by J D Jung | 4 Comments

Strikestone:Book III of the Dolvia Saga – Stella Atrium

Posted on November 14, 2013 by J D Jung

(Reviewed by Melanie Hamilton) "Brianna Miller in Pear-ass now resides. Who saved the gouleps out of bondage Star traffic for Somule Gems she guides. Who jumped back while warriors engaged. In making for Uburu a safe passage. Far distant from our stars and dreams. Far distant form the sisters of Arim Enrich the gouleps, but…

Posted in Sci-Fi/Speculative/Fantasy/Mythology | 1 Comment

Philippine Speculative Fiction Volume 8

Posted on November 12, 2013 by J D Jung

(Mo Francisco (Author), Laurence Roxas (Author), Kenneth Yu (Author), Gabriela Lee (Author), Andrew Drilon (Author), G. Justin Hulog (Author), Eliza Victoria (Author), Joseph De Guzman (Author), Dean Francis Alfar (Editor), Nikki Alfar (Editor)) (Reviewed by Melanie Hamilton) I like short stories because they keep me company while I do things I would rather not be…

Posted in Short stories | Comments Off

The Fall of a Sparrow – Robert Hellenga

Posted on November 1, 2013 by J D Jung

(Reviewed by J.D. Jung) After reading one of my favorite books, The Italian Lover, I just wanted to grab anything related to it and its characters. Author Robert Hellenga wrote a book about the protagonist’s lover, classics professor Alan "Woody" Woodhull, in a previous novel published in 1999, The Fall of a Sparrow. Woody’s…

Posted in Modern Literary Fiction, Reviewers' Top Picks | Tagged Italy | Comments Off

The Hanging Tree – Michael Phillip Cash

Posted on October 30, 2013 by J D Jung

Another Halloween pick! (Reviewed by JD Jung) "If she couldn't move the girl, she would do her best to preserve her innocence, or what was left of it." Summer of 2013 - Oyster Bay - Seventeen year old Arielle was angry at her dad and his choices. She wanted to rebel, but still wasn't ready to give…

Posted in More fiction | Tagged horror, short books | Comments Off

Golf Sayings: wit & wisdom of a good walk spoiled – Bradford G. Wheler

Posted on October 29, 2013 by J D Jung

(Reviewed by Pat Luboff) I’m not a golfer, but I have a very dear friend who is one. I was interested in this book as a gift to her. But before I gave it to her, I read it. What fun! The title refers to Mark Twain’s definition of the game: "Golf is a good…

Posted in Humor & Satire, Non-fiction | Comments Off

The Black Spider – Jeremias Gotthelf (Translated from the German by Susan Bernofsky)

Posted on October 19, 2013 by J D Jung

(Reviewed by JD Jung) "And now the people where gripped by the ancient fear that the spider might carry off an unbaptized infant, the pledge of their old pact. The woman was beside herself, she had no trust in God, so her heart was all more filled with hatred and revenge." In a farmhouse along…

Posted in Dark/Sordid/Bizarre, Lost and almost forgotten, World Literature | Tagged German literature, horror, short books | 1 Comment

My Father, Humming – Jonathan Gillman

Posted on October 7, 2013 by J D Jung

(Reviewed by Pat Luboff) I first opened My Father, Humming randomly to page 24, and read "Down the Stairs". Then I wept, a deep long weeping. I was home for a quick stop of showering and gathering things before returning to my husband’s side where he was fighting to come back to life in a…

Posted in Bios and Memoirs, Poetry | Comments Off