The World of a Few Minutes Ago: Stories

Jack Driscoll
This Michigan Notable Book award winning title for 2013 is Driscoll’s second collection of short stories. The stories take place in Michigan with the exception of one which features a Michigan family on vacation in Maine. Throughout the book readers are introduced to a variety of colorful characters ranging from a 15 year old boy to a 77 year old...

Review by Brice B. »

Meet the Dogs of Bedlam Farm

Jon Katz
Dogs, dogs and more dogs. Meet Rose, Izzy, Frieda and Lenore. They all have a job to do on the farm and throughout the story the question is asked “What is Lenore’s job?”. Personally, I think Lenore’s job is the best. What do you think? ...

Review by Christopher S. »

Backbeard: Pirate for Hire

Matthew McElligott
Welcome back Backbeard: "hairiest smelliest, dirtiest, and most colorfully dressed pirate ever" for another hilarious adventure. This time Backbeard tries his hand at being a landlubber, and of all possible jobs, he ends up in a high scale tea shop! Chaos surrounds Backbeard with entertaining and funny events. ...

Review by Michele R. »

Sleight of Hand: a Novel of Suspense

Phillip Margolin
As a New York Times bestseller, I would have expected nothing less from Margolin than a fantastic, edge of your seat, gripping novel. Although somewhat predictable I still thought the story was classic Margolin with twists, turns and this time illusions that help the theme throughout the book become alive. His character, private detective Dana Cutler...

Review by Betsy M. »

Last Days

Brian Evenson
Kline has recently been divested of a hand, which unluckily qualifies him to solve a murder that has taken place in a religious cult whose members willingly undergo amputations. Easily one of the most disturbing and well-written novels I've ever read. Evenson's style is dark, twisted and fast-paced. ...

Review by Amy B. »

13 Paintings Children Should Know

Angela Wenzel
This book is a joy of discovery. The author brings alive the fascinating stories behind the individual pieces of art. Additionally, we have four other books in our collection by this author that are also very interesting. ...

Review by Christopher S. »

Searching for Sugar Man

Steve Segerman
A lot has been said about this great documentary film. It’s was a huge hit at the Traverse City Film Festival and has made an international name for itself. The central figure in the film Rodriguez, is just such an total anomaly. He was discovered for his lyrical poetic and prophetic sage like wisdom. ...

Review by Aaron O. »

The Path to the Sun

Kimberli A Bindschatel
Path to the sun was an exciting read. The characters were very well developed with all their quirks and shortcoming right out there for the reader to see. They were also noble and brave, willing to do what ever necessary to save their village. Some I loved and some…well not so much. And that was the beauty of it; even the characters I didn’t like...

Review by Linda S. »

Lucifer

Peaking Lights
Indra Dunis and Aaron Coyes have been making and sharing pretty amazingly mixtapes for awhile now. most dealing with crepuscular nether regions of dub reggae, noise, krautrock and various world styles.They tend to rely on thriftshop electronics and various analog equipment for recording their brand of blissed out psych-pop. ...

Review by Keith S. »

Listen to the Music: Caltone's Jamaican 45's 1966-69

The tunes on this collection cover the years from 1966 to 1969, the later period of ska & through the early years of reggae and is chuck full of rare rockst ...

Review by Keith S. »