non-fiction, Science Fiction

Blogs and Books You’ll Want to Put on Your Reading List!

We asked on Twitter for blogs and books to read and had a wonderful response. All of these authors have worked hard to publish articles, short stories, and books. We’re happy for all of them and their success. Want to know what all the buzz is about? Then you’ll want to check out these blogs and books for something fresh and fun to read this week.

Mermaid’s Den by Izabella

Izabella (but feel free to call her Kagura) invites you to read her blog. If you’re a fan of writing, anime, video games, or just enjoy the constant ramblings of someone just posting whatever comes to mind, then this blog is the place for you. Be sure to drop by and give it a read!

Saturday Story Time by Daniel Deisinger

Head on over to Daniel’s website, Saturday Story Time to find some good original reads. There you can find a list of all of his published works, as well as a huge collection of stories that date way back to 2013 when he began to promote himself.

Operation D3 by P.F. Donato

donna
Genre: Fantasy, Sci-Fi, Paperback, 252 pages Published October 14, 2018 by Page Publishing, Inc. Find it on Amazon here

Natalie Thompson wakes up in a basement without any memory of how she got there. With her memories a blur, she feels alone in a seemingly abandoned and very strange town. Within this town, creatures who can get a glimpse of human life through a portal are no longer content with their undead status. With the works of a government conspiracy and a few megalomaniac scientists, the portals are expanding. Now these creatures are threatening our civilization, and our world is on the brink of destruction. Can Natalie control the artificial intelligence chip and regain her memory in time before all of humanity is lost?

You can also check out P.F. Donato on her website pfdonato.com to find interesting facts about her interdimensional scifi novel OperationD3, meet the characters, read book reviews, and find out about upcoming books.

The Borrega Test by James Vincett

jamesvinccet
Genre: Sci-Fi , Space Opera Kindle, 395 pages Published June 4, 2017 by Amazon Digital Services Find it on Amazon here

Fifteen years have passed since the incident in the Anuvi system. As the changes unleashed by that event ripple through the culture and society of the Naati, the Hegemony is driven to the brink of civil war. Sensing an opportunity, the Union sends Senator Frances Arrington as ambassador to negotiate with one of the Naati factions on the independent Human world of Borrega, located in the Neutral Zone. McFinn, long exiled to the glaciers and mountains of the planet Turrentine, is selected by a Very Important Person to act as attaché to the Ambassador. Unknown to all, a small religious sect on Borrega, tested by privation and battle, has other plans for the representatives about to arrive on their world. Looming in the background is the Hominin Union, driven by a history of war and death to unite all Human and Hominin worlds into one political entity, no matter what the cost.

Pause for Moms by Chris Maxwell

pause
Genre: Non-fiction Hardcover, 369 pages Published December 1, 2013 by True Potenital, Inc. Find it on Amazon here

This book is for Moms. The stories inside invite mothers to hit pause. To rest a moment and notice the beauty in the now. To pause and hear, notice, see, observe. To be led beside still waters. To rest for a moment-for this moment. From the Introduction: I’ve talked often about my mother. Though she died when I was nineteen, her stories have stayed alive. Carolyn Acker Maxwell was busy and able to accomplish many tasks, but she knew the joy of hitting pause. A multitasker before multitasking became common in today’s modern, hi-tech world, she refused to be controlled and obsessed by it. She chose to take time to appreciate the wonder of moments. Mama could laugh and listen, pray and cry, come to the table and enjoy events many people would ignore. She found value in what most of us view as holding little importance. The flowers. The wind. The sun rising and setting. The rain. Asking us questions, while wanting to really hear our answers. Laughing with a joy coming from deep within. Seeing something, or someone, and refusing to rush by without appreciating that moment, that person, that life.

From Australia to Germany by Gus Pegel

guspegel
Genre: Memoir, travel Kindle, 176 pages Published February 19, 2015 by Amazon Digital Services LLC Find it on Amazon here

A true story of a fifteen-year-old, who traveled in a Postie van 4-wheel drive from Melbourne, Australia to Stuttgart in Germany with two others. Crossing the vast expanse of the Australian outback to Perth in Western Australia, where they caught a container ship and sailed via Singapore to Sri Lanka and India, and from there, continued overland crisscrossing India up to Pakistan, all the way to Europe via Turkey and what was then Yugoslavia. This book gives an account of the journey, with all its ups and downs. It is not a tourist guide, but a detail of the things they experienced along the way… many of which most tourists would never see.

Men in My Kitchen by Linda Lines

meninkitchen
Genre: Cooking, poetry Paperback, 178 pages
Published November 17, 2017 by Linda Lines Get your copy here

The kitchen is the heart of the home, and bears witness to emotions from romantic to tragic and everything in-between. As you read and she cooks, Linda Lines guides you through funny, sad and pivotal moments, which have unfolded in her kitchens over the decades.

From romantic, mischievous, adult memories to her grandmother’s 1950s kitchen and her post-war childhood in her mother’s kitchen, Linda shares these small but haunting universal truths that all readers will relate to.

This book is packed with poems, photos and recipes that will inspire you to recreate Linda’s memorable treats, that have won the hearts of men… in your own kitchen.

You can find Men in My Kitchen along with Line’s other works at lindalines.co.uk

The Fallen Sun by David R. Grigg

fallensun
Genre: Young adult Kindle, 402 pages Published September 10, 2018
by Amazon Digital Services LLC Find it on Amazon here

A world where the sun never sets; where there is no day and no night; and where shadows never move. Beyond an oasis of light, the freezing outer darkness stretches far away.

In this strange environment, we follow the stories of three remarkable young people.

Together, these three must struggle to save their world. And in saving it, they change it and themselves forever.

Scenes by Greg Schroeder

Greg Schroeder
Genre: Short story, poems Paperback, 95 pages Published January 5, 2018 by Amazon Digital Services LLC Find it on Amazon here

Scenes is short stories and poems that capture the ordinary and make it extraordinary. They have the reader pause, for just a moment, and see the happiness, the quiet, the beauty all around.

The pride of a parent, the drumbeat of history, the joy of a child. The stories are short, tightly written, and encapsulate a complete “scene” that anyone can relate to. The poems, likewise are easily readable, and relatable, but bring the reader back to realizing what they’ve already known.

The Shelter by Robert Hoppensteadt

roberttheshelter
Genre: Sci-fi, adventure, action Paperback, 271 pages
Published May 1, 2019 by Solstice Publishing Find it on Amazon here

In the half-light of an Alaskan summer night, Matt Tulugak pulls his truck off a gravel road and gets out to relieve himself. Looking out over the tundra, he sees a brown gash where permafrost has melted and sloughed off a low hillock. A bony claw reaches out of the mud. He shivers in the light breeze, notices the crescent moon hanging low in the sky, starts to walk. As he approaches the claw it resolves into five huge mammoth tusks arranged in a circle. Within the circle, a human skull, half-buried and yellow with age, look through empty eye sockets into a world that is about to change forever.

Eclectically Heroic: Volume 5 featuring Jim Horlock 

electrichero
Genre: Fiction, anthologies Paperback, 222 Published October 24, 2017 by Inklings Publishing Find it on Amazon here

A superhero outlives his usefulness; a boy finds a magic sword determined to make him a hero; a horse fights for her independence; a dragon rage is defeated; discover these and many more heroic stories in this fifth installment of the Eclectic Writings Series. After exploring carnal delights, criminal pursuits, vegas getaways, and cosmic adventures, Inklings is sending you on a trip through the many definitions of heroism. Eclectic veteran authors include Dorothy Tinker, Cathy Clay, Emerson Adair, Verstandt, and Fern Brady who join a host of new members into our fold. Grab your cape and mount your noble steed as you embark on this heroic journey!

The Resistance Protocol (Dark Titan Universe Saga) by Robinson II, Ty’ron W C

tyron
Genre: Fantasy, sci-fi, crime fiction, urban fantasy Hardcover, 314 pages Published July 31, 2018 by Dark Titan Entertainment Find it on Amazon here

“The Resistance is born.”

The Swordman, The Powerman, The Nano Man, Commander Norland, Theus, and The Unstoppable Beast. Alone in their own worlds, yet, together they form The Resistance. A team united of the Dark Titan Universe’s core heroes. The Resistance Protocol is the collection which showcases the bringing together of the mythic heroes and their actions both alone and united.

This book collects the first six stories from Dark Titan Knights and the serial-fiction titles, Hallow Sword Vol.1: The Utopia Conspiracy, Chosen Son Vol. 1: Gods and Titans, The Nano Man Vol. 1: Wrath of the Thetan, Commander Norland Vol. 1: Sector of Darkness, The Unstoppable Beast Vol. 1: Being Hunted, and The Resistance Vol. 1: World’s Prodigious Heroes.

Don’t forget to check out Ty’ron’s website for information on all of his books and news about upcoming books.

Zombie Complex: The Battle for Chattahoochee Run by Alexander Pain

alexpain
Genre: Post-apocalyptic, sci-fi, horror Kindle, 217 pages Published October 31, 2017 by Amazon Digital Services LLC Find it on Amazon here

The neighborhood smelled bad before the dead people shuffled in. Jake and Karen lived in an apartment complex that housed a hodgepodge of cultures—some of which cooked the nastiest smelling foods. When zombies arrived between paychecks, the couple had no place to go and no money to get there. Their neighbors were mostly guest workers from India. Their homes and families were 12,000 miles away. They were all trapped together. Survival would mean uniting to fight the dead. This is the story of very different people coming together, improvising, getting supplies, and uniting for the fight of their lives. They made their stand at a place called Chattahoochee Run Apartments–a place that will always be known as the Zombie Complex!

 

Tales of the Anna Khonda by Allyson Mayze

allyson
Genre: Fiction, contemporary fiction Paperback, 370 pages Published December 20, 2013 by Outskirts Press Find it on Amazon here

How do you handle being so different from everybody else? Anna was born different. She was born with a unique genetic mutation. She was adopted when she was very young by missionaries who were traveling to her native land after her biological parents were killed. Soon afterward, the parents who had adopted her had another little girl. Anna became very close to her sister and they became great friends. Her sister accepted her from the beginning, but it wasn’t that easy with most of the people she encountered during her youth. This is the story of her struggle to fit in and the awkwardness caused by her differences in not only her own life, but in the lives of those close to her, including her family. As she struggles, she also develops a very good work ethic that helps her along the way. As she continues trying to live in a world that is not very accepting of others who are different, she discovers that her unique characteristics give her an advantage in some ways and in some activities, in which she develops an intense interest and begins to practice, achieving a level of excellence. Before long, she begins making friends who appreciate her differences. But difficulties arise that threaten the new life she has found of acceptance. Through hard work, a few good friends she met along the way, and a little luck, she finds her way again and is able to start over and eventually find her niche and achieve greatness.

 

Love or Lust (Now & Forever Book 1) by Jaye Em Edgecliff

janeem
Genre: Young adult fiction, contemporary fiction, young adult romance Paperback, 476 pages
Published June 29, 2013 by CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform Find it on Amazon here

It’s a week before her freshman year when Lauren Conners is thinking, for what feels like the billionth time, of breaking up with her boyfriend of the past couple of years. In a seeming answer to her fervent prayers for guidance, she looks up into the hypnotic eyes of the quiet little Washington town’s exotic, dark, and alluring new addition.

 

The two fall immediately for one another when their eyes meet. But Lauren can’t be sure – is this love at first sight? An answer from God to her prayer for guidance? Or is this simply lust as she wrestles with newborn passions and desires for the beautiful creature that has entered her life?

The relationship is fraught with other issues on top of the poor young ballerina’s internal and spiritual uncertainty: the two attend the best school in the area, a private school, Immaculate Conception, a Catholic school Lauren has attended since she was in sixth grade and where she has a reputation as a pious, studious, bright, Good Girl. So … what’s the problem here? Oh, her newfound love (or is it lust?) is a girl.

Find out more about Jaye Em Edgecliff over on her website.

WOW! What a selection of amazing authors. Thanks to everyone who passed along links to their blogs and books for us (and our followers) to add to our TBR list.

If you’d like to be featured here in the Den, on our social media accounts, and in the newsletter, let us know! We’d be happy to have you be a part of this amazing community of authors.

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