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Indie book reviews

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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
March 28, 2025

FLIRTING WITH EXTINCTION

By Joanna Kadish
Rating:
4.9 / 5.0

Joanna Kadish's FLIRTING WITH EXTINCTION is a remarkable, heartfelt memoir that details the author's varied life, loves, and losses with exceptional poise.

IR Approved
Rating:
4.0 / 5.0

Though it would benefit from editing in places, A FAR CRY FROM YESTERDAY: Finding Tomorrow in Distant Lands is an engaging account of Manon Rinsma's...

IR Approved
Rating:
4.2 / 5.0

Though there are some wrinkles in the presentation, Richard Lowy's KALMAN AND LEOPOLD: Surviving Mengele's Auschwitz contains a story about Auschwitz's horrors that ought to...

IR Approved
March 7, 2025

CARRYING THE TIGER

By Tony Stewart
Rating:
4.6 / 5.0

From the intimate details of his wife’s battle with stage IV lung cancer to his own path through grief, Tony Stewart’s CARRYING THE TIGER: Living...

March 5, 2025

EVERYTHING IS NOT PEACHEY

By Lisa Peachey
Rating:
3.9 / 5.0

Though it occasionally tacks close to some brands of pseudoscience, Lisa Peachey’s EVERYTHING IS NOT PEACHEY is a thoughtful, affecting, deeply personal account of chronic...

February 28, 2025

CYCLING 70 YEARS ONCE WORLD CHAMPION

By Gordon Neale
Rating:
2.5 / 5.0

Though the underlying material is of historic interest, Gordon Neale’s CYCLING 70 YEARS ONCE WORLD CHAMPION lacks a strong central narrative to elevate it from...

IR Approved
Rating:
5.0 / 5.0

Martha Walandouw Lohn and Brian Kimmel's BLUE SKIES, TROUBLED WATERS: An American Twin's WWII Odyssey in Minahasa, Indonesia offers a unique perspective on a pivotal...

IR Approved
February 11, 2025

KARMA & KISMET

By Michael Shandler
Rating:
4.5 / 5.0

Told with the thoughtful reflectiveness of a practiced yogi but with persistent emotional immediacy, Michael Shandler’s KARMA & KISMET is an excellent memoir of both...

IR Approved
February 10, 2025

COUNTERMELODIES: A MEMOIR IN SONATA FORM

By Ernestine Whitman
Rating:
4.8 / 5.0

Through powerful storytelling and unflinching honesty, Ernestine Whitman's COUNTERMELODIES: A Memoir in Sonata Form transcends genre boundaries—providing both a strong critique of classical music's patriarchal...

IR Approved
January 22, 2025

HUMBLED ON PURPOSE

By Maggie Michaels DeCan
Rating:
4.4 / 5.0

In HUMBLED ON PURPOSE, Maggie Michaels DeCan delivers a heartfelt memoir that describes a difficult childhood, a successful executive career, and a fulfilling transition into...

Rating:
3.5 / 5.0

Although afflicted with both a surfeit and a lack of detail in different ways, Kristina Ahlnäs’s KRISTINA'S CACHE: A Memoir of Adventure and Survival in...

IR Approved
January 6, 2025

OUR STORY

By Bill Clark, Glenda Clark, Jim Clark
Rating:
4.5 / 5.0

Part love story, part historical document, and part meditation on the nature of enduring partnership, Bill, Glenda, and Jim Clark’s OUR STORY offers readers a...

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