Book Review: Romp

Welcome to the 80s, and to the raunchiest summer of your life.

When Lady Opal Fairfax discovers her scoundrel of a husband cheating, she decides to turn the tables on him. Instead of getting a divorce, she’s going to get even. Opal invites five daring (and gorgeous) artists to her manor, offering a life-changing cash prize to the best talent. Among them is Ruby, a talented poet struggling to make ends meet. So when Opal dangles the chance of an all-expenses-paid summer, Ruby can’t resist. But she wasn’t expecting the competition to be quite so fierce – or so sexy.

With all these brilliant and beautiful people around, life at Fairfax Manor promises to be anything but dull. Ruby and Opal aren't just seeking inspiration: they're going to find out a way to come out on top, in more ways than one.

Book Review: The Tribe and I Have Spoken

Rob Cesternino has probably talked more Survivor than any other person on the planet. After playing in Survivor: The Amazon and All-Stars, Rob built a community amongst Survivor’s online fans with Rob Has a Podcast. Now, this foremost scholar of the show takes readers from the beaches of Borneo on the first season all the way to the landmark fiftieth season. This cleverly illustrated ode to the show includes “The Heroes and Villains Hall of Fame,” the greatest “Watercooler Watershed Moments” in the show’s history, and Rob’s “Ultimate Survivor Playbook” (no refunds) to winning that million-dollar prize.

Whether you’re a superfan or a first timer, The Tribe and I Have Spoken is a must-read celebration for anyone who counts themselves as part of this passionate tribe of fans from around the world.

Book Review: The Anniversary

On May 1, 1992, Jules Delaney (high school queen bee) and Quinn Riley (boy from the wrong side of the tracks) hardly know each other. By morning, their lives are forever connected.

A year later, Jules is haunted by trauma and guilt, tormented by one question: Why was she spared? Quinn is newly released from juvenile detention and returns home to devastating news—the unsolved murder of his mother. Over the next decade, their lives are revisited on a single day each year: May 1st.

As the years pass, secrets surface, lies unravel, and the paths of Jules and Quinn draw closer together. Two mysteries edge toward the truth—what really happened the night Jules was attacked, and who murdered Quinn’s mother? All the while, the May Day Killer is still out there. And the clock is racing toward another anniversary.

Book Review: See You on the Other Side

The celebration of the thirty-fifth wedding anniversary of Russell Calloway’s best friend, Washington Lee—the least likely monogamist of his acquaintance somehow having become over the years a model husband and father, at the Odeon in the Spring of 2020 sparks an at once funny and moving autumnal reckoning with mortality as the specter of the Covid-19 virus spreads. In this moment of unprecedented upheaval—frantic and fraught real-time response, piercing personal and political impact—the Calloways find themselves and their marriage tested in ways they could never have anticipated as fatal consequences ensue.

See You on the Other Side by Jay McInerney will be published April 14, 2026. Knopf Publishing provided an early galley for review.

Book Review: We Were Never Here

Emily is on holiday with her best friend, Kristen, in the stunning mountains of Chile. They're having the time of their lives until, on the last night of the trip, Emily enters their hotel suite to find it covered in blood. Kristen claims a backpacker attacked her. She shouted, but no-one heard. She struggled, but he was too strong. She had no option but to kill him.

With no evidence of the assault, Emily must help her hide the body. Back home, Emily tries to forget what happened, but a surprise visit from Kristen forces her to confront the events of that night. As the walls close in on their cover-up, Emily asks herself: can she really trust her closest friend?

Book Review: Happiness Included

Recognized world-wide as Jan Brady, the wonderfully misunderstood middle sister on television’s The Brady Bunch, actress Eve Plumb has embraced the association that seemed destined at age 10 when she was cast on that show. The iconic 1970s TV series has been in perpetual reruns for five decades and is well known by three generations of children and adults. Her engaging memoir reveals that her stint on The Brady Bunch was only the beginning of her TV and theater career, a young lady with the confidence and spunk that her on-screen character often humorously lacked.

Today, Eve is a talented visual artist, with thirty-five years of experience, whose oil paintings have been displayed and sold in galleries here in the U.S. and Europe. Chock-full of Brady Bunch nostalgia and the skinny on countless classic TV shows with recollections straight from the set, this is Eve Plumb as you’ve never seen her.

Book Review: I Choose Me

Jennie Garth is best known for playing the iconic role of Kelly Taylor in the hit television series “Beverly Hills, 90210.” Now in her 50s, she invites readers into the real story of growing up on screen, facing Hollywood’s impossible beauty standards, and losing—and finding—herself through heartbreak, loss, and the challenge of motherhood. She shares the raw truths of the moments that broke her open and shows the resilience it takes to walk through grief and begin again.

Jennie writes with warmth and candor about learning to quiet the voice that says “not enough,” rediscovering her strength after loss, and daring to take up space, speak her truth, and want more. She opens up about the unglamorous, deeply human moments and finally letting go of the need for perfection and other people’s approval.

Book Review: The Superman Wars

Almost everyone knows about the man from Krypton who, disguised as mild-mannered reporter Clark Kent working with the fearless Lois Lane, fights for the vulnerable and the oppressed. But few know the truth about this indelible character’s creation. From mobster tactics to decades-long courtroom drama, a beloved American myth was born, betrayed, and eventually reclaimed—seventy years later.

New witnesses, unpublished manuscripts, personal letters, and more reveal the complex and dramatic history of Superman and his creator, Jerry Siegel. This is a David and Goliath clash with twists, turns, and devastating upheavals. An underdog tale of a creator who fought for his rights and finally found redemption in his battle for truth, justice, and the American Way. A story that has never been fully told.

Book Review: Arsenio - A Memoir

Arsenio Hall holds a uniquely prominent place in American culture—celebrated late-night host and comedic actor, famed for starring roles in the cultural touchstones Coming to America and Harlem Nights. Now, he pulls back the curtain and takes us to a different time in Hollywood. Iconic scenes include: starting out as a young magician in Cleveland; hosting his first talk show in the basement of his apartment building when he was in elementary school; cutting his teeth at the world-famous Comedy Store in Hollywood, learning about comedy and life from legendary comedian Richard Pryor; forming lifelong bonds with legendary icons Muhammad Ali, Luther Vandross, Sammy Davis, Jr., and Eddie Murphy; tasting superstar success with Coming to America, the film that preceded The Arsenio Hall Show; conducting unforgettable, groundbreaking interviews with Magic Johnson, Bill Clinton, Tupac Shakur, Maya Angelou, Madonna, and Minister Louis Farrakhan; rescuing a family from a home-fire with Jay Leno; sharing hot sauces and blackjack with Patti LaBelle; and chilling with Prince.

Book Review: Rolling Stone and the Rise of Hip Capitalism

In its early years, Rolling Stone stood out on the magazine rack: an iconoclastic bimonthly aimed at young Americans, dedicated to music, culture, and politics. Magazine cofounder Jann Wenner's vision of a magazine that blended politics with sophisticated coverage of rock music and related social and cultural trends was groundbreaking and a surprising commercial success, turning the brash young publisher into the era's quintessential "hip capitalist."

This is a history of Rolling Stone's heyday, from its founding in 1967 to its twentieth anniversary, examining its coverage of notable social, cultural, and political developments and the contributions of its distinguished and often brilliant writers—from Greil Marcus and Hunter S. Thompson to William Greider and P. J. O'Rourke. It also reveals how, in response to shifts in its audience, the magazine industry, and the broader culture, Rolling Stone gradually changed, becoming more successful but also less innovative and influential. In the magazine's prime, however, Wenner and company showed how a thoughtful, irreverent magazine could attract advertisers as well as readers and spread sixties-inspired values into the mainstream.

Book Review: Your Behavior Will Be Monitored

Megacorporation UniView is poised to cement their reputation as “the most trusted name in AI.” After pioneering self-driving and HR bots, UniView is now barreling toward an audacious new launch. That is, if they can pull it off in time.

Enter Noah. A down-and-out copywriter reeling from a midlife crisis, he isn’t the typical hire for a groundbreaking tech company full of brilliant engineers and run by a cutthroat CEO. But Lex, UniView’s Head of HR and one of their greatest successes, makes no mistakes—her algorithm ensures it.

UniView’s latest venture, a bot named Quinn that creates revolutionary personalized advertising, needs expert training. Noah needs to teach Quinn, who is a much better student than he ever could have hoped for, the finer points of consumer motivation and the art of writing a catchy tagline. But when corporate competitors force UniView to accelerate their timeline to market, guardrails around the AI loosen just as Quinn is learning a bit too much.

Book Review: Verb Your Enthusiasm

Verbs are the underrated stars of the English language. They hold it all together. A complete sentence cannot exist without one, yet a single verb can create complete meaning. (See?) In this brilliant exploration of language, grammar, and style, Sarah L. Kaufman illuminates how all of us, professional writers and novices alike, can master the art of the verb and unlock the infinite potential of written expression.

When she was the dance critic at The Washington Post, Kaufman was challenged to translate the dynamic language of movement into words. Verbs showed her the way. Good verbs power great storytelling; they leap off the page, fire our senses, and transform our perceptions.

Book Review: Queens of Disco

From leading vocalists such as Gloria Gaynor, Donna Summer and The Pointer Sisters, who helped popularize disco music in the late seventies, to modern-day disco divas including Madonna and Kylie Minogue, Queens of Disco is an electrifying must-read for dance music enthusiasts.

This joyful book explores disco's emergence in the underground club scene and unpicks its influence on DJ culture and legacy in defining electronic dance music such as hip-hop, house and new-wave. Featuring complementary playlists alongside detailed profiles of ten female trailblazers and fully illustrated throughout.

Book Review: Self-Editing for Fiction Writers

Hundreds of books have been written on the art of writing. Here at last is a book by two professional editors to teach writers the techniques of the editing trade that turn promising manuscripts into published novels and short stories.

In this completely revised and updated second edition, Renni Browne and Dave King teach you, the writer, how to apply the editing techniques they have developed to your own work. Chapters on dialogue, exposition, point of view, interior monologue, and other techniques take you through the same processes an expert editor would go through to perfect your manuscript. Each point is illustrated with examples, many drawn from the hundreds of books Browne and King have edited.

Book Review: Enemy of My Enemy

When reports come in that the Kingpin and a police officer have been killed and that Frank Castle (aka the Punisher) has turned himself in for it, Matt Murdock senses holes in the narratives the media and the streets are quick to run with. Both criminals have been Matt’s nemeses when he dons the cowl of the Daredevil, and there’s no denying that New York is better off without its Kingpin and with the Punisher behind bars. And yet, while the Punisher is a murderous vigilante, he doesn’t kill cops. And he doesn’t turn himself in.

Castle certainly deserves prison for all of the other crimes he has committed in the past. However, Matt’s indominable sense of justice insists that nobody should be locked away for crimes they didn’t actually commit. Representing the vigilante in court, Matt enters a contest of wills and guile with Castle to try and uncover the game beneath the game. And when Matt’s girlfriend takes the stand and complicates matters, there’s truly no rest for the wicked or the just. As the Kingpin’s absence causes passion and ambitions to run hot in Hell’s Kitchen, Matt must decide if justice means the letter of the law, what’s best for the citizen on the streets, or where his heart leading him.

Book Review: Vex, Hex, Smash, Smooch - Let Verbs Power Your Writing

Great sentences pivot on great verbs. In Vex, Hex, Smash, Smooch, Constance Hale, best-selling author of Sin and Syntax, zeroes in on verbs that make bad writing sour and good writing sing. Each chapter features four sections: “Vex” tackles tough syntax, “Hex” debunks myths about verbs, “Smash” warns of bad writing habits, and “Smooch” showcases exemplary writing.

A veteran journalist and writing teacher, Hale peppers her advice with pop-culture references and adapts her expertise for writers of every level. With examples ranging from the tangled clauses of Henry James and the piercing insight of Joan Didion to the punchy gerunds of the Coen brothers and the passive verbs of CEOs on trial, this book offers a reenergized take on the “little despot of the sentence.”

Book Review: The Story Grid

The Story Grid is a tool developed by editor Shawn Coyne to analyze stories and provide helpful editorial comments. It's like a CT Scan that takes a photo of the global story and tells the editor or writer what is working, what is not, and what must be done to make what works better and fix what's not.

The Story Grid breaks down the component parts of stories to identify the problems. And finding the problems in a story is almost as difficult as the writing of the story itself (maybe even more difficult.)

Book Review: The End League - Complete Collection

In a devastated world ruled by supervillains, the last surviving heroes embark on a desperate quest to find the mythic Hammer of Thor, believing it holds the key to restoring hope to humanity. The End League is a gripping saga of high-stakes survival, packed with character-driven storytelling and breathtaking visuals.

Superstar writer Rick Remender (The Sacrificers, Tokyo Ghost) unites with comics legends Mat Broome (X-Men, Batman), Eric Canete (Iron Man, Martian Manhunter), and Andy MacDonald (Justice League, Multiple Man) for a desperate, pedal-to-the-metal fight through the ashes of civilization for a future that’s already lost.

Book Review: Getting Naked

With her signature warmth and disarming humor, the beloved actress and New York Times bestselling author strips away the polished façade and shares what it’s really like to grow older, love harder, and start over. Now in her mid-sixties, Valerie reflects on the hard-won lessons of aging, self-worth, and letting go. From her experiences with menopause, relationships, and family trauma, she writes with clarity and compassion about the insecurities that have haunted her for decades: shame and anxiety about her body, and the false belief that her value depended on perfection. Through it all, Valerie reflects on the quiet, daily work of self-acceptance—the kind that doesn’t make headlines but changes lives. Getting Naked isn’t just a story of survival. It’s a reckoning—with her past, her family history, and the generational pain that shaped her. It’s about the myths we believe when we’re young—about beauty, love, success—and how we carry them until they break us open. It’s about unlearning the script that says women must please, endure, and stay silent.

Book Review: It's Never Too Late

Marla Gibbs has been a Hollywood icon for generations of fans. Now, at ninety-three, she chronicles her climb from a difficult youth in which she yearned for safety and love, to the high-stakes world of Hollywood where she became a confident powerbroker learning to work behind the scenes for fair pay, access, and more creative control for herself and her colleagues.

Told in her forthright voice, It's Never Too Late illuminates Gibbs' daring move to Los Angeles to rebuild her life after an abusive marriage, how she became an actor, and how she eventually learned to balance acting with show running. She was a “Boss Bae” decades before the term would become entertainment industry shorthand for a power flex. While developing 227 her lawyer won her “all rights, courtesies and privileges of an executive producer without the credit.” Though the authority she wielded behind the scenes created deep tensions on and off the set, her hard-luck young life had prepared her to succeed even as her tenacity was put to the test. Her experiences laid the groundwork for powerbrokers like Shonda Rhimes and Issa Rae.

Book Review: Still Into You

Sloane Donavan dreamed of being a rock journalist ever since she posted her first MySpace blog. Now, one journalism degree, a failed internship, and dozens of backstage passes later, she’s struggling to land a full-time staff position. So when punk rock’s most notorious and elusive frontman offers her his first interview in eight years, Sloane should be jumping at the opportunity—but taking it would mean reconnecting with the only guy she’s ever loved (and lost), Dax Nakamura.

Unable to pass up a shot at making her name—and helping Dax clear the reputation that’s plagued his—Sloane agrees. It’s only a conflict of interest if anyone finds out. But the article Dax wants and the salacious tell-all Sloane’s editor is expecting are two completely different stories. And as old feelings resurface, Sloane’s journalistic integrity hangs in the balance. This is the career-making piece she’s been waiting for, but it comes with a price: the chance to rewrite the ending with her first and only love.

Book Review: A Place Both Wonderful and Strange

From its start, when studio executives drafted a plan to recoup costs after what they predicted would be the series' inevitable failure, to the 1992 prequel movie that earned scathing reviews at Cannes, to its unexpected and acclaimed return some twenty-five years later, Twin Peaks garnered millions of devoted fans who refused to let it die.

In A Place Both Wonderful and Strange, entertainment reporter Scott Meslow takes readers behind the curtain of Lynch’s and Frost’s dedication to finishing what they started, with both the prequel film and Showtime’s Twin Peaks: The Return, offering dozens of original and revelatory interviews that cast a whole new light on the extraordinary show. For a series that left as many questions unanswered as answered, Meslow’s deep reporting will give readers a new perspective, detailing scenes left on the cutting–room floor and how Season Two’s finale stunned and infuriated studio execs in what Mark Frost calls “a defiant middle finger to what they [studio executives] thought the show should be.”

Book Review: Jigsaw

This one looked like a slam dunk: a young woman found dead at her kitchen table, DNA on cigarette butts linking quickly to an ex-boyfriend with a criminal record. Or so homicide lieutenant Milo Sturgis thought. Then everything changed and a quick close turned into a mind-bending whodunit. That’s when Milo called in psychologist Alex Delaware, his best friend and a long-term consultant on “those cases.” The ones that are different.

Then there’s another one: an old woman found brutally murdered, her body stashed in a deep freeze and mutilated. And when Milo learns who she is, he’s stunned. This victim is someone he once knew. Complicating matters further, her home is an extreme hoarder’s den, virtually impassable due to years of stored trash and apparently meaningless objects. Except for the envelopes of cash stashed among the garbage. As Alex and Milo dig deeper into the seemingly unrelated crimes, they discover shocking links between the victims and realize they have a labyrinthine—and deadly—puzzle to solve.

Book Review: Make It Out Alive

Three newlywed couples have disappeared from an exclusive resort in Florida, only to turn up dead soon after. With the location and the similarities between the female victims as their only leads, it’s up to the FBI Mobile Response Team to catch a serial killer before anyone else ends up dead. And they have the perfect bait—Detective Kara Quinn, who bears an uncanny resemblance to the targeted women.

Undercover as newlyweds pretending to enjoy their honeymoon, Kara and FBI Agent Matt Costa set a flawless trap. When their plan works and they arrest the predator, Matt sends the rest of the team home so he and Kara can have the weekend for some much-needed R&R. But on Monday morning, the couple doesn’t show up to work, and the MRT learns they never checked out of their hotel.

As their team tries to find them, Matt and Kara learn the truth—the killer wasn’t acting alone. He had a partner who succeeded where he failed. Kidnapped and forced into a twisted escape room, they need to find a way out, because if they don’t escape, they’ll die.

Book Review: The Wrong Family

Have you ever been wrong about someone?

Juno was wrong about Winnie Crouch. Before moving in with the Crouch family, Juno thought Winnie and her husband, Nigel, had the perfect marriage, the perfect son—the perfect life. Only now that she’s living in their beautiful house, she sees the cracks in the crumbling facade are too deep to ignore.

Still, she isn’t one to judge. After her grim diagnosis, the retired therapist simply wants a place to live out the rest of her days in peace. But that peace is shattered the day Juno overhears a chilling conversation between Winnie and Nigel.

She shouldn’t get involved. She really shouldn’t. But this could be her chance to make a few things right. Because if you thought Juno didn’t have a secret of her own, then you were wrong about her, too.

Book Review: The Trauma Machine

What if you could fix everything broken in your life before it happened?

Nate Johnson spends most of his time ruminating about what might have been. The charitable categorize the Nate-experience as There, but for the grace of God, go I. And the rest throw him into the pile of people they see every day and never give a second thought.

One day, Nate begrudgingly accepts a legacy gift, a semi-coherent manuscript which describes a mechanism to construct and enter a secret pathway. It’s a portal to undo what seemingly can’t be undone. All he has to do is decipher the manuscript and build The Trauma Machine. Then he can go back, correct the past, and return to the present.

What could have been will become what is. Simple.

Book Review: The Ultimate RPG Villain Backstory Guide

In the varied and diverse worlds of tabletop RPGs, there are a myriad of genres, play styles, and creative opportunities for players and game masters to sink their teeth into. The Ultimate RPG Villain Guide is an essential tool for game masters and RPG players seeking to craft memorable antagonists and morally complex heroes. This guide delves into the art of villain creation, offering innovative strategies to develop characters that drive the narrative and captivate players. Whether you’re plotting the downfall of a kingdom or the rise of a conflicted anti-hero, this book has you covered.

With its step-by-step processes, engaging prompts, and expert insights, this guide solves the common problem of flat, uninteresting villains that fail to challenge players’ creativity. These tools empower creators to design layered personalities, intricate backstories, and compelling motives that enrich any campaign setting.

Book Review: The Sound of Story

Voice in writing can seem elusive and hard to define. It’s more than just style it’s rhythm, energy, attitude, and the unique fingerprint of a narrator or character. Voice is shaped by culture and history as much as the mechanics of language.

In The Sound of Story, author and writing teacher Jordan Rosenfeld demystifies voice and its close companion, tone, offering writers the tools to develop and refine their own. Through contemporary examples, this book explores how syntax, point of view, emotion and more shape voice on the page. Whether you’re crafting fiction or nonfiction, this book will help you shape and refine voice to create compelling, authentic narratives. It empowers writers to wield voice and tone with purpose, increasing their chances of publication, and delivering a compelling story that leaps off every page.

Book Review: How to Write Stunning Sentences

In this new edition of How to Write Stunning Sentences, you’ll find more stylish sentences that mesmerize and rearrange a reader’s world. Think of this book as a private lesson with Nina Schuyler (award-winning author and long-time instructor on style in prose) featuring guest appearances by the masters, including James Baldwin, Lauren Groff, Grace Paley, John Updike, Toni Morrison and newly added Virginia Woolf, Anne Carson, Justin Torres, Don DeLillo, Doris Lessing, Rachel Cusk and Kevin Barry. It’s a masterclass with some of the best writers of the 20th century. Whether a novelist, essayist, short story or nonfiction writer, How to Write Stunning Sentences will elevate your writing from good to stunning.

Book Review: Seven Drafts - Self-Edit Like a Pro from Blank Page to Book

Seven Drafts: Self-Edit Like a Pro from Blank Page to Book divides writing and revision into distinct stages, with a new focus in each draft. Allison K. Williams' frank, funny voice encourages writers to tackle even big editing tasks with a sense of humor and a feeling that someone who understands is on their side. After sections on story, elements of writing craft and structure, seeking and using feedback, and the publication process, Seven Drafts goes beyond the technical and into the mindset of a writer. How can envy be employed to fuel your own work? Where do you find a writing community? How will literary citizenship influence personal process?

This book was first published January of 2001 by Woodhall Press.

Book Review: Racer X vol. 1

Rex Racer was burned, betrayed, and left for dead, but he came back as Racer X, a masked vigilante on a mission to take down the corrupt racing syndicates from the inside. As he protects his brother Speed from the shadows, he battles deadly rivals, rigged races, and his own past. With every race, he inches closer to the vengeance he seeks, using his skills to level the playing field for those who race with honor. But when returning home risks the lives of those he loves, Rex must choose between family and the fight.

Coming from the world of Speed Racer, Racer X volume 1, written by Mark Russell with art by Nuno Plati, will be published on February 17, 2026. Mad Cave Studios provided an early galley for review.

Book Review: Speed Racer vol. 1

We're going pedal to the metal in this all-new interpretation of Tatsuo Yoshida’s classic manga/anime MachGoGoGo, known to Western audiences as the demon on wheels -- Speed Racer!

Speed Racer lives for the thrill of the race, but on the underground circuit, the rules are anything goes. Dodging bullets, explosions, and dirty tricks, he’s got one goal: to prove he’s the best. But when a dangerous syndicate targets his family, Speed’s greatest challenge won’t be on the track…it’ll be on the streets. With the police closing in and a masked racer lurking in the shadows, Speed is about to learn that some races can’t be won with horsepower alone.