By Pennell Paugh

March 13, 2023 (San Diego’s East County) – Carrolle Jean-Murat., M.D., a Mt. Helix resident, announces publication of her latest book, Strengthening Your Spiritual Foundation for Optimum Health: 18 Ways to Unleash Your Innate Healing Powers.

By K.C. Grifant

Reviewed by Pennell Paugh

March 2, 2023 (San Diego) -- Sharpshooter Melinda and her easygoing partner and sweetheart, Lance, are expert monster exterminators in local author K.C. Grifant’s creative novel, Melinda West: Monster Gunslinger. They plan to retire after this last job; however, they accidentally release a demon who steals their best friend’s soul, leaving their friend in a coma. If they don’t hurry, their friend will die.

While fighting one of the demon’s possessed, Lance’s soul is partially stolen. On her own, Melinda is determined to fight to the last to save both her friend and lover. While fighting, she learns she will have to stop hell from taking over Earth. 

By Pennell Paugh

February 9, 2023 (San Diego) - Dr. Mary Travelbest’s guide book is full of tips and on the road recommendations. She helps you to get the best deals, pack light, and ensure your safety. She takes you through stages to develop a level of comfort with less and less structure. I’m still on stage one, but I now have the yen to plan a short trip.

Reviewed by Pennell Paugh

January 26, 2023 (San Diego) - Your Fabulous First Book provides support and guidance to the first-time, non-fiction writer. By helping an author overcome writing blocks and other challenges, starting with finding a subject, San Diego author Andrea Susan Glass pulls the writer along until their book is completed and, hopefully, published.

By Richard G. Opper

Reviewed by Pennell Paugh

December 4, 2022 (San Diego) -- The Body in the Barrel is a compelling crime novel set in 1973 in San Diego.

The book opens on October 15, 1973: “I shifted the Smith & Wesson Model 10 to a more comfortable place on my hip, which was feeling tender this morning. The bay had a smell of rotting plants, and together with the smell of the diesel it triggered thoughts about the Mekong—which was not so long ago, even if it was half a world away. It was the reason my hip ached, but that life was over. I was back home in San Diego, and glad for it. Whatever I’d thought I was going to accomplish in the Navy’s swift boats turned out to be a bad dream. A nightmare. So, the fact that I ended up in the Harbor Police is a whole lot better—but still a whole lot of not much. I was out of the shit storm and into a more peaceful life, but for crying out loud, at twenty-eight here I was with nothing really going on, already going nowhere. But who cared? Other than my dad, I guess, and that only went so far.”

Reviewed by Pennell Paugh

October 19, 2022 (San Diego’s East County) -- The Spirit of Shy Moon Lake is a spooky, sometimes creepy, often mysterious tale, filled with tension and foreshadowing. Award-winning local author Reina Lisa Menasche is also the long-time host of the “Bookshelf” segment on East County Magazine’s radio show.

Reviewed by Pennell Paugh

September 21, 2022 (San Diego) -- As an authority on public speaking, San Diego author Lisa Kleiman shares thoughtful and thorough advice for any time you might need to speak to a group of people, even at funerals in You Got This: Everything You Need to Master Authentic Public Speaking. The book helps anyone prepare to stand in front of any group and successfully deliver a message with clarity, confidence, and authenticity.

After graduating college, Kleiman was called on to speak often enough that she developed techniques to lower her anxiety while increasing her clarify.Actually, Kleiman did not find speaking before others to be easy when she started. “Sitting in my high school English class at age seventeen, feeling nauseous in anticipation of my turn to stand up in front of the class and give a formal presentation about a famous historical author, I never would have guessed that I’d spend many years of my life helping others improve their public speaking skills, especially in the role of instructor. The idea of speaking in front of an audience as a profession seemed awful. I didn’t understand why people would want to purposely expose themselves to possible ridicule and embarrassment. 

Review by Pennell Paugh

August 27, 2022 (San Diego) – Reset, a romantic science fiction story by San Diego author Sarina Dahlan, is thought-provoking. Reset will make you cherish your life’s loves and losses—allowing them to give your life deep meaning and purpose.

Book by Theresa Halversen

Reviewed by Pennell Paugh

July 21, 2022 (San Diego) -- This delightful fantasy by San Diego author Theresa Halversen is a fast, fun read from the first page to the last. The story in Warehouse Dreams occurs in a world where the quality of each person’s genes reflects their parents’ wealth.

Reviewed by Pennell Paugh

June 9, 2022 (San Diego) – The Third Secret by Marco De Sio combines historical fiction and political intrigue. The tale is told through the life of an Italian immigrant, Big Al. His story takes us from a small fishing village in Italy to the United States, through two world wars, and into intrigue within the Vatican that could transform the future of the Catholic Church.

Reviewed by Pennell Paugh

Author to hold book signing at Julian Library on May 10 at 1 p.m.

May 5, 2022 (La Mesa) -- The Colonized and the Scramble for Africa, the first of The Colonized series, provides true stories of how the author, Wanjirũ Warama, her family and community lived in abject poverty on British colonial farms in Kenya.

Warama, a resident of La Mesa, is a member of the San Diego Writers and Editors Guild. She will host a book signing in Julian at the County Library on May 10 at 1 p.m.

PAMELA BOUTE’ – KILLER D.A. by Darryl Littleton (Independently Published, Inglewood, CA., 2021, 89 pages).

Book Review by Dennis Moore

November 21, 2021 (San Diego) - Pamela Boute’ – Killer D.A.is the story of a Department of Justice employee who issues out her own justice when the system fails to put away the guilty. Her latest list of victims – the insurrectionists of January 6, 2021.

This fictional story by renowned comedian Darryl Littleton resonates with me, for I know full well of the challenges faced in federal government employment. If there was a movie to be made about this book, and I could see it happening, Pam Grier comes immediately to mind.

Peril by Bob Woodward and Robert Costa (Simon & Schuster, New York, 2021, 482 pages)

Book Review by Dennis Moore

          “We have much to do in this winter of peril.” -- President Joseph R. Biden Jr. in his inaugural address, January 20, 2021, at the United States Capitol

October 12, 2021 (San Diego) -- Peril, by Bob Woodward and Robert Costa is the scariest book that I have read among my more than 400 book reviews, for it portends the destruction of our democracy as we once knew it. The publishers of this well written book, Simon & Schuster, states: “The transition from President Donald J. Trump to President Joseph R. Biden Jr. stands as one of the most dangerous periods in American history.”

This book is scary for all the revelations made in it about the former president, which is ongoing in the aftermath of the January 6, 2021 attempt at a coup at the Capital Building in Washington, DC, and the ties between former President Trump and his supporters. The co-author of this book, Robert Costa, gives a riveting audio presentation to NPR, which readers can listen to by clicking here.

Experience Nature Unplugged: A Guide To Wellness In The Digital Age, by Sebastian Slovin & Sonya Mohamed (Nature Unplugged, Encinitas, California, 2021, 240 pages).

Book Review by Dennis Moore

March 30, 2021 (San Diego) - Sebastian Slovin and Sonya Mohamed has written a thought provoking book that resonates with me, and may very well change the trajectory of my life going forward, Experience Nature Unplugged: A Guide To Wellness In The Digital Age.

Sebastian Slovin and Sonya Mohamed  founded Nature Unplugged in 2012 with the mission of inspiring wellness in the digital age.  Basically, this book is about nature and improving on mental health. As a matter of fact, throughout this well written book the central theme seems to be about mental health, and how to optimize it. It should be noted that the authors are actually husband and wife.

AMERICAN KOMPROMAT: How the KGB Cultivated Donald Trump, and Related Tales of Sex, Greed, Power, and Treachery, by Craig Unger (Dutton, New York, NY, 2021, 345 pages).

Book Review by Dennis Moore

February 25, 2021 (San Diego) - Craig Unger, author of the New York Times bestselling book, House of Trump, House of Putin, has written an explosive and provocative book that is destined to be another bestseller; American Kompromat. Unger asks; “Was Donald Trump a Russian asset? Just how compromised was he?” There are certain aspects of this book that reminds me of Robert Ludlum’s The Matarese Circle, which was also published by Unger’s publisher.

Listen to our exclusive interview with the author on our "East County Magazine Live!" radio show by clicking here.

This is a story of dirty secrets, and the most powerful people in the world. It has been quoted as stating: “Damning in its accumulation of detail, terrifying  in its depiction of the pure evil of those Trump chose to do business with.” I couldn’t put the book down!