“Reaching the Shore” by Bonnie Jane Hall

Reaching the Shore: A Story of Survival, Courage, and Endurance Bonnie Jane Hall What is the point of prison? That is one of the questions that this book asks, explicitly and implicitly, over and over again. Written by his mother, this is the story of Davin, who at 16 was tried as an adult, convicted […]

“Bloom” by Nikki Rae

Bloom: The Order Series Book One Nikki Rae Fawn was once the specialest of all the special girls in her Compound. Until she was sold into cruel servitude and tried to fight back. Now she finds herself sold again despite being damaged goods. Is this her chance to finally escape as she’s been plotting all […]

“Armageddon’s Children” by Terry Brooks

Armageddon’s Children Terry Brooks So I have to start off by saying that the post-apocalyptic genre is not my favorite, which has led me to think a lot recently about its current popularity. Why are authors producing so much of, and readers consuming so much of, this rather grim and inherently limited, in that it […]

“The Life and Works of Mikhail Vasilyevich Lomonosov” by B.B. Kudryavtsev

Mikhail Vasilyevich Lomonosov B.B. Kudryavtsev Without MV Lomonosov, there would probably no Russian literature as we currently know it. And in general, the intellectual landscape of Russian culture would probably be quite different. A fascinating figure, Lomonosov worked tirelessly throughout his life to usher in new ideas in subjects as varied as poetry and phlogiston. […]

“Russia’s Lomonosov” by Boris Menshutkin

Russia’s Lomonosov: Chemist, Courtier, Physicist, Poet Boris N. Menshutkin Russian literature didn’t come into its own until partway through the 19th century. But already in the 18th century it was laying the ground for its later flourishing through the actions of people of genius, whose writing was groundbreaking for its time and whose lives were […]

“Keytar Heroine” by CB Archer

Keytar Heroine: Trip Hazard’s Tale CB Archer For those of us who have been deep in the Gentaliaverse for a while now, the lads of Caution Step are one of the more intriguing and mysterious side characters. They keep coming (up), but we don’t really get to know them as anything other than rock gods […]

“For the Love of Katie” by Erica Lucke Dean

For the Love of Katie Erica Lucke Dean Everything *should* be going swimmingly for Katie James, soon to become Katie Maxwell, but somehow she still manages to get into situations a saner woman would hopefully avoid. Luckily she has people who love her… “For the Love of Katie” is a charming, lighthearted, and often hilarious […]

“Asan” by Vladimir Makanin

Asan Vladimir Makanin “Asan wants money. Asan wants blood.” Within the emerging genre of “Chechen,” as in referring to the recent Chechen wars, prose, Vladimir Makanin’s “Asan” has engendered controversy. To a field zealously guarded by its veterans, the non-veteran Makanin has contributed two works: the novella “Caucasian Captive” (Кавказский пленный) and now the novel […]

“The Golden Lynx” by C.P. Lesley

The Golden Lynx C.P. Lesley Historical romance isn’t my favorite genre, but when a friend and sister Russianist recommended “The Golden Lynx” as being a romance that was also a historically accurate depiction of 16th-century Russia, I knew I had to check it out. And indeed, the descriptions of life amongst the Tatars and boyars […]

“A Maverick Traveller” by MaryJane Walker

A Maverick Traveller Mary Jane Walker “A Maverick Traveller” is a straightforward, high-spirited account of the author’s adventures traveling around the world, as she does everything from sail across the Pacific in a Chinese junk to go mountain climbing in the Alps. In between, and perhaps even more fascinatingly, it chronicles her involvement in New […]

E. P. Clark: Author, Book Reviewer, and All-Around Literary Handiwoman

Book review