LISTEN MAMA
Genre: Young Adult
IR Verdict: LISTEN MAMA authentically details the sliding scale of hopes, frustrations, and disappoints, as Manny attempts to hold his loved ones and himself together, in the decades spanning belief that his family will one day be well and whole again.
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FAST-STARTING A CAREER OF CONSEQUENCE
Genre: Inspirational/Spiritual
IR Verdict: Fred Sievert’s FAST-STARTING A CAREER OF CONSEQUENCE offers clear, God-centered advice in a breezy, no-nonsense style towards figuring out one’s gifts and putting them to use in a fulfilling vocation.
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LEARNING IN LOCKDOWN
Genres: Education, Parenting
IR Verdict: With LEARNING IN LOCKDOWN, Dylan and Kate Meikle have succeeded in crafting a fantastically simple but superbly useful guide for navigating the often frustrating and difficult world of home-schooling that the Coronavirus pandemic has made a reality for so many.
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THE DARK ARK
Genre: Action/Adventure
IR Verdict: A high-stakes, big budget summer blockbuster of a novel, THE DARK ARK moves at a break-neck pace to deliver a complex and ambitious story.
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TO DREAM IN DAYLIGHT
Genre: Romance
IR Verdict: Hilarious and fun, TO DREAM IN DAYLIGHT is a feel-good, genre-bending romance about the dreams that happen while sleeping, that pushes the limits of reality to show the beauty of connecting with a stranger who might be your soulmate.
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A CAREGIVER’S RESPONSE
Genre: Memoir
IR Verdict: A CAREGIVER’S RESPONSE: Our Shared Journey by Gary Pacernick is a collection of autobiographical poems that delves into the tragedy of a cancer patient and her caregiver, reminding readers in stark and simple language, that no one is ever truly alone in their pain. A brilliant but harrowing read.
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CHARM AND STRANGE POEMS
Genre: Poetry
IR Verdict: Linda Casebeer’s CHARM AND STRANGE combines the purity of Imagism with the wittiness of the New York School into a unique collection of poems.
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DIET FOR GREAT SEX
Genre: Health
IR Verdict: Kudos to Christine DeLozier for crafting DIET FOR GREAT SEX–a comprehensive, valuable, enjoyable, and potentially society-enhancing resource on how to enjoy mutually magnificent sex regularly and naturally.
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YOUR NEXT BIG IDEA
Genre: Business
IR Verdict: Following entrepreneur Samuel Sanders’ comprehensive guidelines in YOUR NEXT BIG IDEA takes a lot of time and work, but anyone willing to make such a Herculean effort is already halfway to success.
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SHADOW OF WOLVES
Genre: Horror
IR Verdict: SHADOW OF WOLVES by J.R. White is an endlessly fun and immersive adventure novel that perfectly mixes horror and western all the while telling an entertaining yarn.
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THE ZODIAC REVISITED
Genre: True Crime
IR Verdict: THE ZODIAC REVISITED (Volume 1: The Facts of the Case) is an extensively researched and faultlessly edited book that provides a compelling introduction to the infamous, unsolved case of the Zodiac Killer.
ENEMY COMBATANT
Genre: Literary Fiction
IR Verdict: By turns fleshy, spiritual, meandering, and sure-footed, ENEMY COMBATANT remains consistently entertaining, if never quite enlightening.
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NIMUE: Freeing Merlin
Genre: Fantasy
IR Verdict: Though it falters slightly in the shift of character perspectives, NIMUE: Freeing Merlin is well written and researched and successfully flips the Arthurian tradition on its head to reveal a powerful, feminist look at the hidden potential within us all.
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STEALING THE HOLY GRAIL
Genre: Fantasy
IR Verdict: S.M. Perlow’s STEALING THE HOLY GRAIL has a cinematic narrative and an original take on the plot of the classic King Arthur is driven by dynamic action scenes, with twists worthy of a Hollywood blockbuster.
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THE GODMA’S DAUGHTERS
Genre: Fantasy
IR Verdict: Honoring the wisdom of a long ago people whose descendants remain, Isabella Ides’ THE GODMA’S DAUGHTERS embraces a sometimes bitter, sometimes sweet contemporary present–while dipping into the past and the future in this original, finely honed tale.
IF WE WERE ELECTRIC
Genre: Short Stories
IR Verdict: A richly textured collection of short stories, IF WE WERE ELECTRIC by Patrick Earl Ryan is full of strangely marvelous ne’er-do-wells and heartbroken lost souls, all fighting for life in the humid sensuality of New Orleans.
ALMOST DAMNED
Genre: Paranormal
IR Verdict: Christopher Leibig’s ALMOST DAMNED is an engaging and page-turning theological legal thriller that will appeal to fans of The Da Vinci Code and courtroom dramas alike.
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ROGUE WAVE
Genres: Romance
IR Verdict: Isabel Jolie’s ROGUE WAVE is an engaging and readable romance from a clearly accomplished writer that also touches upon some complex and thought-provoking ecological issues.
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THE PRINCESS ELECTRIC
Genre: Young Adult
IR Verdict: Derek Silver’s THE PRINCESS ELECTRIC takes its reader on an action-packed journey into the fantasy realm of Dementia, in a way which is both entertaining and thought-provoking.
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BUTTERFLIES IN THE SYSTEM
Genre: Young Adult
IR Verdict: BUTTERFLIES IN THE SYSTEM, a fictional YA story loosely based on author Jane Powell’s time spent in Montreal’s youth protection system, is harrowing, heartbreaking, and occasionally overwrought, but ultimately triumphant and deeply satisfying.
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THE TREE OF KNOWLEDGE
Genre: Action/Adventure
IR Verdict: Exploring the possibilities of perfect foresight and the many shades of ambition, THE TREE OF KNOWLEDGE is an engaging, modern action-thriller filled with logic puzzles, secret societies, and political machinations.
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THE LUCK OF MADONNA 13 (2020 Edition)
Genre: Science Fiction
IR Verdict: Along with writing that is smooth and colorful and a story that invites continuation, THE LUCK OF MADONNA 13 is highly ambitious in its world building–successfully blending elements of sci-fi, high fantasy, and technomancy.
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BLINK ONCE TO SPREAD SNOW
Genre: Historical Fiction
IR Verdict: Rich in historical detail, BLINK ONCE TO SPREAD SNOW by James Christie provides a deep, measured sense of reading pleasure likely to remain long after the last page has been savored.
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