Category Archives: Reviews

Rowling’s ‘Casual Vacancy’ Strikes a Nerve

Posted on October 7, 2012 by Gabriella West

‘The Casual Vacancy’ by J.K. Rowling, Little, Brown ($35 hardcover); Kindle ($14.99) Joanne Rowling is a woman with a ton of baggage. As her own writer bio on Amazon states, she’s the author of the “bestselling Harry Potter series of … Continue reading →

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Fifty Shades of Grey – A Quick Take

Posted on August 30, 2012 by Gabriella West

My friend Shannon Yarbrough has been recapping each chapter of Fifty Shades of Grey on his blog, accompanied by hilarious visuals. Confession: I sent him my copy after finishing with it, wondering what he would get out of it, as … Continue reading →

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July Book Review: Building Character by Kate Genet

Posted on July 16, 2012 by Gabriella West

‘Building Character’ by Kate Genet, 2012, Kindle/Smashwords ($6.99)  The summer months are difficult ones for indie authors, who tend to see sales of their full-length ebooks diminish. A book that came out last month without much fanfare is Kate Genet’s … Continue reading →

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May Book Review: Pennance by Clare Ashton

Posted on May 18, 2012 by Gabriella West

‘Pennance’ by Clare Ashton, 2012, Createspace pbk (8.99)/Kindle ($2.99) When I first came across Clare Ashton’s debut novel on Kindle, I confess I frowned slightly at the title and thought that it was possibly a typo for “Penance.” It’s not, … Continue reading →

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Indie author spotlight–Kate Genet

Posted on December 1, 2011 by Gabriella West

To showcase some of the great indie writing out there, I want to do a occasional profile of writers who are producing impressive work via ebook. Kate Genet is an eclectic and prolific New Zealand novelist who is perhaps best … Continue reading →

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Some thoughts on indie authors, and a review

Posted on October 9, 2011 by Gabriella West

I think every now and then these days about what it means to be an indie author. For me, it’s meant being able to publish a literary novel that I thought was never going to make it into the light … Continue reading →

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‘Outdated’ review

Posted on September 5, 2011 by Gabriella West

‘Outdated: Why Dating Is Ruining Your Love Life’ Samhita Mukhopadhyay, Seal Press, September 2011,  280 p, $17.00 Outdated feels like a new type of book–an anti-dating book, written by the executive editor of Feministing.com, a popular feminist blog for women … Continue reading →

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August Update

Posted on August 31, 2011 by Gabriella West

Well, August has been a busy month (chatting with other writers on Twitter especially), and I’m horrified to see that I haven’t blogged all month. This is very bad. 🙂 My next book for review is an intriguing read that … Continue reading →

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‘Found’ Is a Poignant, Powerful Take on Adoption Issues

Posted on July 28, 2011 by Gabriella West

Let me say first off that I am not an adoptee, so I don’t come to Found with the emotional hair triggers and sensitivities that someone in that situation might. But this new memoir by journalist Jennifer Lauck (Seal Press, … Continue reading →

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The Leaving Gets 5-Star Review

Posted on July 24, 2011 by Gabriella West

It makes an author very happy to be acknowledged, especially by a fellow writer whom they admire. A New Zealand author called Kate Genet wrote a fantastic review of my novel The Leaving at the Kindle Store on Friday. She … Continue reading →

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