Underrated Reads

An UnderratedRead Revisited: Busted Valentines and Other Dark Delights – Frank De Blase

Posted on February 14, 2023 by J D Jung

(Reviewed by JD Jung) #CommissionsEarned "'Twas the night before the night before Christmas and Jack Frost was pissed." That's the intro to my favorite story, "The Night Before the Night Before Christmas" in Busted Valentines and Other Dark Delights. But what does that holiday story have to do with Valentines? Let's just say that all…

Posted in Revisited | Tagged dark, gritty, noir, sordid, Valentine | Comments Off

An UnderratedRead Revisited:Black, White, and Gray All Over: A Black Man’s Odyssey in Life and Law Enforcement – Frederick Douglass Reynolds

Posted on February 11, 2023 by J D Jung

(reviewed by Ann Onymous ) Each person in life faces many crossroads. From the day we’re born, to the day we die, we are faced with decisions. Each choice can influence our life’s journey. Which direction we take has an impact. At each opportunity we have a chance to make a choice - large or…

Posted in Revisited | Tagged autobiography, corruption, drugs, police, race | Comments Off

An UnderratedRead Revisited: Love, Activism, and the Respectable Life of Alice Dunbar-Nelson – Tara T. Green

Posted on February 7, 2023 by J D Jung

(Reviewed by Ann Onymous ) #CommissionsEarned This book was not the biography I expected. Alice Dunbar-Nelson (1875-1935) led an incredible life, full of love and activism indeed. This contribution into the oeuvre of African American history is from Dr. Tara T. Green. The biography is very detailed and complete, not just a brief summary of…

Posted in Revisited | Tagged African American history, biography, New Orleans | Comments Off

Central Places – Delia Cai

Posted on January 30, 2023 by J D Jung

(Reviewed by JD Jung) Twenty-seven-year-old Audrey Zhou is leading a life most of us would be envious of. Living in New York City as a sales rep for a newspaper, she has many friends and is engaged to a witty and handsome man from a wealthy family. In contrast, Audrey is from Hickory Grove,…

Posted in Immigration, Modern Literary Fiction | Tagged immigrants, relationships | Comments Off

A Death in Valencia – Jason Webster

Posted on January 26, 2023 by J D Jung

(Reviewed by JD Jung) When I visit a city for the first time, I like to go to a local English-language bookstore---if I'm lucky enough to find one--- to discover novels featuring the town, incorporating its culture into the story. A Death in Valencia does just that as it combines the history and culture with…

Posted in Crime, Mystery and Thrillers | Tagged corruption, crime fiction, gentrification, murder, Spain, Valencia | Comments Off

An Exceptional UnderratedRead Revisited: The Dying Crapshooter’s Blues- David Fulmer

Posted on January 23, 2023 by J D Jung

(Reviewed by JD Jung) Atlanta, 1923: In the midst of Prohibition, the city is seething with corruption, bootlegging, narcotics, gambling, and counterfeiting scams. This would seem the perfect scenario for Joe “Indian Joe” Rose to drift into town, as he does every year or so, to try to make some cash. Actually, Joe couldn’t…

Posted in Revisited | Tagged blues, crime fiction, Historical fiction, jazz | Comments Off

The Words That Remain – Stênio Gardel (Translated by Bruna Dantas Lobato)

Posted on January 17, 2023 by J D Jung

(Reviewed by JD Jung) #CommissionsEarned “The river calmly flowed and cried its eternal murmur. Raimundo got up and looked at the empty sky. The shadows had taken over the blue as well. The stars must have fallen and become the seeds of reality at his feet.” Raimundo could never forget his first love, Cicero. They…

Posted in Latin American Literature, World Literature | Tagged Brazil, LGBTQ, society | Comments Off

An UnderratedRead Revisited: Women with Big Eyes – Angeles Mastretta, (Translated by Amy Schildhouse Greenberg)

Posted on January 12, 2023 by J D Jung

(Reviewed by JD Jung) #CommissionsEarned “A shiver ran down Paulina Trasloheros’s back. This man was horrible, excessive, outrageous. To exorcise him, she would have to commit a string of sins for which she could never repent. Not even when he decided to return to New York, where they lay success, a success that could not…

Posted in Revisited | Tagged Mexican literature, short stories | Comments Off

An UnderratedRead Revisited: Law of the Jungle – Christina Hoag

Posted on January 9, 2023 by J D Jung

(Reviewed by Don Jung) #CommissionsEarned Rowena Aldus is an Oxford scholar whose passion is researching the venom in spiders to use for medicinal purposes in humans. Though she finds this fascinating, she struggles to get funding. Author Christina Hoag details the hardships one has in living a very primitive life in the Amazon Jungle away…

Posted in Revisited | Tagged Amazon jungle, crime fiction | Comments Off