Indie Reads Aloud Radio Episode # 277 Elephant Beach Written by Christine Devane   A young girl is expecting a quiet, peaceful beach day of reading--but she's in for some disappointment. It turns out elephants love to play, especially at the beach! At first, the girl is annoyed when the elephants break her beach chair. Then, they block her sun amidst other loud and distracting shenanigans. Soon, though, the girl becomes intrigued by the elephants' playful nature. She still tr

One of the most wonderful things about reading is that books never expire. For example, I recently read Shattered Echoes . It was published in 2015. Still, it hadn't grown stale on the shelf, and it didn't smell weird. The story was as vibrant the day I read it as the day it was published. This is only one small reason books are so appealing to me. But that's a blog post for another day. Ms. Shapiro has crafted a tense, creepy, and curious story. A ghost story with a tw

Indie Reads Aloud Radio Episode # 276 The Midnight Factory Written by Russell Luyt   LISTENER ADVISORY: MATURE THEMES, MATURE LANGUAGE Shimmer makes you forget—until it takes everything. In the near-future and rain-soaked New Albion, shimmer is both escape and enslavement—and the Bureau for Virtue, always watching, ensures the world stays hooked. Anouk Walker only wanted to survive until her next fix. But when a Bureau raid tears her closest friend away, she’s pulled into a R

Indie Reads Aloud Radio Episode # 275 The Women Written by Shannon Waite     LISTENER ADVISORY: MATURE LANGUAGE AND SITUATIONS Thirty-Nine transgressive short stories that are raw, relatable, and fearlessly honest. Welcome to this nostalgic museum of girlhood, where eleven self-loathing and self-destructive girls are on display. Watch as feelings of confusion, rebellion, and a desire to belong turn them into defiant women, unruly mothers, and unsavory wives. Roman leaves pris

Indie Reads Aloud Radio Episode # 274 The Watchers At War Book Three in The Watchers of Moniah Series Written by Barbara V. Evers LISTENER ADVISORY: VIOLENCE, DEATH No throne, no crown! Adana and Kiffen have retreated to the Border Keep like the refugees who swarm to them. With Maligon ensconced in Moniah and Kiffen's stepmother controlling Elwar, the last of the Four Kingdoms has fallen to the traitor's plots. All seems lost. Now they must place their trust in the one-time t

Indie Reads Aloud Radio Episode # 273 Raising Women Written by Shannon Waite     LISTENER ADVISORY: MATURE LANGUAGE AND SITUATIONS Girls are taxes. Women are city limits. You are on the precipice of womanhood and have become obsessed with an ex-convict, Roman. She introduces you to the dangerous and honest side of life that no one else has been able to. As she unapologetically places you in scandalous situations, you begin making self-destructive decisions. Depending on which

I've read Ms. Feeney before and was captivated by her ability to twist the psychology of crime, expectation, and horror into a fancy braid of reluctant reality. This is the story of a group of friends who were not always the best to each other growing up, and how someone, or perhaps several someones, reach their breaking point, seeking revenge several years later. Ms. Feeney's strongest talent lies in mis-direction and the ability to invoke emotion just when you thought log

Click To Order! I've been a bit pre-occupied by Ms. Henry's storytelling recently. This is now the fourth book of hers that I've read in the past couple of years, and I'm sure it won't be the last. She is a inventive author who looks at the tales we've all heard a million times, and finds a new sliver of shadow resting in between the lines of the legend we all through we knew. This story is an eerie adventure into an alternative origin myth of the Horseman of Sleepy Hollow,

Click To Order! I made a mistake and read book three before book one, but I don't think it mattered that much. This story felt like a stand-alone, singular adventure. While I'm sure that once I read the other two books in this series I'll have more, "oh, that's what was happening there" moments... I enjoyed Looking Glass tremendously. Ms. Henry is a skillful storyteller, and exceptionally talented at re-framing stories from our childhood in new ways... new, darker ways.

Click To Order! This is the first book I've read from Mary Kubica, and I found it a bit... lacking. After a little research, I discovered that this was written at the beginning of her career, and we all know writers who sometimes become better storytellers after they've published a few books. Don't believe me? Read Deception Point by Dan Brown. But I digress. I thought that the alternating narration between the two characters was an interesting choice. In some cases, we

Click To Order! As one who loves, loves, loves the potential for the Great Library of Alexandria to carry on past it's centuries of mythical destruction, I was thrilled to discover this book. The idea that Rachel Caine found a potential loophole for the Library to retain all it's knowledge, and share it with the world through Alchemy, is a wonderful fantasy. Now, when you mix in the politics that always comes with the powerful controlling anything, most especially knowledge

Indie Reads Aloud Radio Episode # 272 The Nature of The Beast Written by Barbara V. Evers     Not All Beasts Hide in the Dark! The Nature of the Beast is a spellbinding tapestry of speculative short fiction, where shadows slink and truths unravel. Between these covers, beasts roam-scaled and winged, furred and fanged, creeping through underbrush or beneath skin. Dragons take flight. Shifters fight instinct. Spiders weave silent traps. Insects whisper destruction. And often,

Have you ever considered writing under a pseudonym, and why or why not? No, I want people to know that I am writing children’s books, because I am very proud of them. What is your “go-to” method for working through or around writer’s block? Taking a break! Sometimes I can sit and stare at the computer forever and nothing comes to my mind. Then I have to leave what I am working on and go do something else, go for a walk, watch a show, anything to get my mind off the project. T

Indie Reads Aloud Radio Episode # 270 Dash and the Lights in the Sky Written and Illustrated by Ashley Key   Discover the magic and science of the Northern Lights through the eyes of three Arctic friends. When Dash the husky looks up one winter night, he sees ribbons of color dancing across the sky. Together with Echo the snowy owl and Nimbus the Arctic fox, Dash sets off on a sparkling adventure to uncover the mystery of the lights that shimmer above the snow. This beautiful