Indie book reviews

IndieReader’s reviewers are tough, but fair

Our Reviewers won’t judge your book as compared to other self-published titles, but against other books, period. Our ratings are based on the following criteria, although reviewers are able to award partial stars (i.e. a 1.3 or a 4.7), rather than rounding up or down to a whole or half number.

1/5

Really bad 
Work on it.

2/5

Mediocre
1-2 bright spots.

3/5

Good
Worth reading.

4/5

Very Good
1-2 spots that need work

5/5

Excellent!
Must-read.

* IndieReader receives compensation for most of the books it reviews, along with copies of those books.

IR Approved
November 27, 2024

TOKYO TEMPOS

By Michael Pronko
Rating:
4.7 / 5.0

TOKYO TEMPOS is an enlightening and entertaining collection of essays, thanks to Micheal Pronko’s careful prose beautifully conjuring a sense of place and the occasional...

IR Approved
November 22, 2024

THE CYCLE OF LIFE

By Greg Scott
Rating:
4.3 / 5.0

Greg Scott's THE CYCLE OF LIFE is a poignant, often humorous memoir of an epic father-son cycling odyssey across Canada and an engaging tale of...

IR Approved
Rating:
4.1 / 5.0

83 ODYSSEY: An Adventure Down the Spine of America on U.S. Highway 83 shines with author Charles Roamer's affection for the Great Plains’ landscape and...

November 13, 2023

EXPLORING WINE REGIONS: The Central Coast of California

By Michael C. Higgins, PhD
Rating:
3.0 / 5.0

Michael C. Higgins’s EXPLORING WINE REGIONS: The Central Coast of California is a good, solid guide to the region's vineyards, but certain peculiarities of content...

IR Approved
November 10, 2023

NATIONAL PARK MAPS (An Atlas of the U.S. National Parks)

By Michael Joseph Oswald
Rating:
5.0 / 5.0

A valuable resource even in these days of GPS and cell phones, NATIONAL PARK MAPS, compiled by Michael Joseph Oswald, provides a wealth of helpful...

IR Approved
November 6, 2023

THE DAYHIKER’S GUIDE TO THE NATIONAL PARKS

By Michael Joseph Oswald
Rating:
5.0 / 5.0

Michael Joseph Oswald's THE DAYHIKER’S GUIDE TO THE NATIONAL PARKS is chock-full of useful guidance for the dayhiker, offering descriptions of trails, available amenities, the...

IR Approved
October 20, 2023

SOMEWHERE FOUND (Travels in Obscurity)

By Kyle Battisti
Rating:
4.6 / 5.0

Kyle Battisti's SOMEWHERE FOUND (Travels in Obscurity) is vividly written and delivers a true sense of life-affirming joy, blending history and culture from inaccessible corners...

Rating:
3.5 / 5.0

Damen Howard's VAN LIFE WITH CATS (The Digital Nomad’s Guide to Traveling the Americas) is a short and simple guide best used as a starting...

November 7, 2022

SOLDIER TO SOJOURNER

By Gordon Schwerzmann
Rating:
3.8 / 5.0

Gordon Schwerzmann's enthusiastic and informative memoir, SOLDIER TO SOJOURNER, details his time serving in Korea and provides a fascinating and insightful account of the culture...

IR Approved
March 2, 2022

SILVER SCREEN CITIES AMSTERDAM & BRUSSELS

By David Kintore
Rating:
5.0 / 5.0

Written with the enthusiasm, erudition, and cinematic eye of a dedicated explorer, David Kintore's evocative, lavishly detailed SILVER SCREEN CITIES AMSTERDAM & BRUSSELS is not...

Rating:
3.5 / 5.0

An artistic and varied outsider's take on Italy, UNDER VESUVIUS: A Reflective Travelogue in Verse and Prose, paints a picture of the place and also...

IR Approved
December 13, 2021

THE TOPOGRAPHY OF FEAR

By Mathew Sturtevant
Rating:
4.6 / 5.0

Somewhere between timeless adventure (Kerouac’s "On The Road") and tortured sojourn (Neal Peart’s "Ghost Rider: Travels on the Healing Road"), there exists THE TOPOGRAPHY OF...

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