October 2026 Book Reviews, Commentary, And A Look Forward
October was another blur of a month. Flooding rain here in Jacksonville caused me to not be able to do my March For My Health nearly four mile walks for a week, but my parents and one of my brothers came down to Fernandina Beach for a couple of days and we got to hang out with them there one of them. Otherwise largely another rinse and repeat month, but one that ended with the blessed return of real time in the United States.
November will be a lot more eventful, with Robinsonfest 2026 in St. Augustine this weekend, potentially my very last Walt Disney World trip for at least a few years a little over a week later, and then Thanksgiving itself. (No, we do not count that holiday that Canadians claim here. We barely accept the Statehood of Ohio.)
With October bringing me to 170 books on the year, I'm well positioned - other than the aforementioned trips - to likely end the year at or maybe even slightly above 200 books on the year... and I may even be able to be in a position to finally cut my NetGalley habit. We'll see about that one...
And now, on to the book reviews...
The Book Reviews
Blog Tour: The Last Train From Paris by Suzanne Kelman
For this blog tour, we're looking at a solid conclusion to an epic dual timeline WWII series. For this blog tour, we're looking at The Last Train From Paris by Suzanne Kelman.
Book Review: Homelessness Is A Housing Problem By Gregg Colburn And Clayton Page Aldern
This Book Could Have Been A Credit Card Sized Pamphlet. The title of this review + the title of this book is really all you need to know here. Everything else in this review will be me telling you a bit about why I
Book Review: The Chosen Guest by Laura Drake
Cowboy Romance. Emotional Relationship Fiction. Sinister Travel Thriller. Wait. What? Watching Drake's evolution as a writer these last few years has truly been a thing of wonder, something that really has to be experienced to be believed. I first encountered her via her cowboy romances, which were excellent within that space and good enough that even non-romance fans should give them a try. Then she expanded into more "relationship fiction" (women's fiction, but at le
Book Review: When You Tell By Steena Holmes
Solid Suspense With A Lot Of Real-World Commentary. This is one of those fun tales where the author says this and that and that other thing were inspirations, and they are absolutely in there (including the Amsterdam tour she led a bit ago and
Book Review: Why We Ask Why By Tania Lombrozo
Carefully Tailored Yet Ultimately Still Not Curious Enough. This is a book all about explaining the psychology of why we ask *certain* questions. Indeed, Lombrozo is very careful in the first chapters to set *very* precise guardrails on *exactly* what she intends to look at, and does a
Book Review: In This Life Or Another By Melissa Payne
Damn Near Generational. I can think of exactly two books I've ever read that come anywhere near close to this book - one was fairly niche inside Christian circles (in that I've rarely seen anyone other than myself talking about it, even though it was transformatio
Book Review: Target Down By Ryan Steck
Revenge Porn For The Department Of War Crowd. This is one of those tacticool "military thrillers" for the more modern former soldier/ wannabe. Lots of people getting shot, lots of fists being thrown, a few damsels and kids in distress, and through all the
Book Review: The Bookshop By Andrew Pettegree
Comprehensive (If European/ North American Focused) History. I read Pettegree's 2021 history of THE LIBRARY, and it was great. So when I saw this book hit NetGalley, I had to have it too. And honestly, Pettegree nails it yet again.
Book Review: Four Lettter Nation By Steven H Jaffe
Fucking Comprehensive Shit Lacking A Goddamned Bibliography. Ok, so the title of this review is quite intentional. If you can't handle that... this is *NOT* the book for you. While a claimed humorous look at the history of American profanity (that I never re
Book Review: Crush Depth By Ryan M Patrick
Michael Crichton And Tom Clancy Have Been Resurrected, Fused Together, And Mixed With A Pinch Of James Cameron, Jeremy Robinson, And Stephen Spielberg. Michael Crichton's death 18 years ago now was a **major** blow to the world of scie
Book Review: Undersea War By Elizabeth Braw
Comprehensive Look At Little Known Yet Essential Topic. As I sit here near the University of North Florida in Jacksonville, Florida, it turns out I actually have a facility wherein an undersea cable connects to the land cable networks almost literally just a few mil
Book Review: Sub War By Bruce Jones
As Above, So Below. Five years ago Jones wrote a book called To Rule The Waves, basically about surface shipping and the history and modern issues revolving around various geopolitical issues on
Book Review: Appetite On Pause By Tierra Duncan
Facts. Not Fear. Discussion. Not Diatribe. Up front: I started this year at 341 lbs. On April 14, I was at 327 lbs after some diet changes (not eating a bag - or two! - of mini donuts every day among them, to give you an idea of where I was). That day, I had my annual ph
Book Review: Your Glp 1 Game Plan By Heidi Skolnik
Solid And Comprehensive Reference. If you're even remotely considering using GLP-1s, this is the best, most complete reference guide I've yet found. It covers damn near every facet of what you need to kno
Book Review: Tyrant Lizard Queen By Riley Black
Jurassic Park Is More Real Than This Supposedly Nonfiction Book. And Less Bigoted. In all honesty, this book seems like Black started with the premise that
Blog Tour: Losing Alice By B. R. Spangler
For this blog tour, we're looking at a tale that deviates from the standards of prior books in its world a bit - and is better for it. For this blog tour, we're looking at Losing Alice by B.R. Spangler.
Book Review: Fishbowl By Jeremy Robinson
Asimov Sent The New God Of Science Fiction To Piss The World Off. Ok, so Robinson isn't subtle with the themes of this book. At all. Not to the level of preachiness, but you know *very* well the questions Robinson was wrestling in his own mind as you read this book... and in classic Robinson fashion, you don't *really* know where he ultimately ends up personally, because as always the story comes first. Definitely something for me to ask him about w
Book Review: Built To Punish By Nora V Demleitner
Anecdotal Over Evidentiary With Sub-Par Bibliography And At Least One Fact So Wrong As To Be Hyperbole. Where to begin with this one. I had such high hopes for it, yet it turned out to be just another left of center (at best) diatribe largely rehashing exactly the same "facts" and commentary as so many other books... several of which have done either this entire narrative or at least certain parts of it far more thoroughly and convincingly.
Book Review: The Brewer's Tale By William Bostwick
More Interesting As Travelogue And Memoir Than History. This is one of those more Food Network type shows where the real action is in the personality traveling an
Book Review: Drink By Iain Gately
More Anglo-Centric Than Truly 'Global' Yet Manages To Raise Interesting Points That Seem Unintended. First off, if you're looking for a truly global look at all things alcohol as it relates to human consumption thereof wherever there have ever been humans... this doesn't really reach that level. Much at all. While there is *some* discussion of parts of the Mid
Book Review: Age Of Security By Ruben Andersson
[Andersson's] Sense Of Freedom Is As Pale As [His] Skin. Otherwise As Solid As Flan. This is one of those books that is well documented at roughly 26% of the overall text and raises a lot of solid points about its general premise with a largely global-ish look, examining different aspects of security as it plays out in Sweden, African Spain, Ch
Commentary
Be Careful Of Spoilers For All Books
I saw this post on Threads, and it sparked a story I want to share here.
The text of the initial post:
I don’t care how long a book has been out, it doesn’t mean that it’s “safe” to post spoilers. Posting quotes and stuff without very clear warnings just ruins the experience for everyone else, especially if it’s big things like deaths or whatever. I hope what I said makes sense
And this is the story I shared:
Yes Christians Should Read Horror Books Too
Current drama on Twitter/X involves a podcaster whose most recent book was so bad that even though I read it trying to defend it, even I ultimately proclaimed it “Not recommended for anyone but the truly masochistic” now proclaiming that Christians should not “be fans of horror”.
Now, I was raised in the Church. My earliest memories are of going to a Church of God church, one where my high school mentor and the man who changed my life later went on to be the Principal of the school it ran for several years after his retirement from public education. I spent my later single digit years and teens in a Southern Baptist Church and during this period, my pastor of many of these years was a man who later (after I left that church) became President of the Georgia Baptist Convention. I then spent a few years - including when Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast in 2005 - at the very Independent Baptist church that my parents had gotten married in 25 years earlier.
Some of my earliest chapter books - not the earliest
An Interesting Change On Amazon That Could Impact Book Discoverability
Take a look at these screens I just grabbed from Amazon moments ago. Let’s see if you notice the same thing I did…
And Now, A Look Forward (By Release Date)
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September 2026
- Falling For Peachtree Bluff by Kristy Woodson Harvey
- I'll Be Watching You by Allison Brennan
- The Wonder Of One by Suzanne Redfearn
- So It Grows by Andie Burke
- Watch Her Run by Jennifer Moorhead
- The Lies by Gregg Dunnett
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October 2026
- The Christmas Yes List by Melissa Ferguson
- Break The Ice by Kristen Bailey
- Have Yourself A Merry Little Meltdown by Sheila Roberts
- Please Enjoy Your Stay by Tara Goedjen
- The Best Christmas Ever by Sarah Morgan
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November 2026
- Bulletproof Angel by CJ Perry and Blake Northcott
- Set Your Life On Fire by Maddie Dawson
- Take My Word For It by Levar Burton
- The Cold Read by Tara Laskowski
- Until The Last Light Goes Out by Courtney Gould
- When They Find Me by Carter Wilson
- The Riddle Maker by Bruce Borgos
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December 2026
- The Blue Hours by Stephanie Kryzwonos
- Meet Me At Midnight by Sophie Sullivan
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January 2027
- An Expert Witness by Sue Black
- Take Back The Night by Heather Gudenkauf, Kaira Rouda, and Kimberly Belle
- One Last Warning by Allison Brennan
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February 2027
- She Gets It From Me by Emily Bleeker
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March 2027
- The Infectious Mind by Matilda Gosling
- When The Stars Answer by Harper Ross
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June 2027
- Big Cult Energy by Jack Friday