Strange Entertainment! 19 Doors by Rob Roy O’Keefe

September 12, 2025November 8, 2025Leave a comment

I received a complimentary copy of this book for an honest review.

| Description

• Speculative Fiction | Short Stories

A shopping network super-fan relives the infomercial scenarios he watches. An intergalactic tour bus arrives in Hollywood…Montana. A community remembers the lives they have yet to live. 19 Doors dives into magical realism and science fiction, adding a dash of steampunk and surrealism for extra flavor, and giving us glimpses into the lives of characters who are just like us—and nothing like us.

| My Thoughts

I picked up this collection looking for strange and entertaining stories. That’s what I got.

From the Wacky…

One of the strangest (if any of the stories can be called “stranger” than the others) got me laughing out loud for its wacky depiction of the wackiness of infomercials: a story called “Has this ever happened to you?”

No, that’s never happened to me—or to any other human being on that ridiculously disastrous level.

…To the Wonderful

Granted, I’m always hoping that at least some of the short stories from a bunch will stand out to me in a way that’s more than just entertaining. With this book, I got that too.

I’m glad that the original version of one of the stories, “Davy Jones’ locker,” comes later in the book than the rewritten version, as I like the original one better. And a few of the stories struck me as wonderful.

“The great machine.”
“Borrowed time.”
“We were beautiful.”

And, hey. It may be redundant to say so, but “We were beautiful” really is a beautifully told tale. My favorite in the collection.

Technical Notes

Now, overall, some of the stories are more polished than others, and in regard to editing, a few of the stories have some errors. The main recurring error involves dialogue and quotation marks.

That is, when one character is speaking for multiple paragraphs without dialogue tags or action beats in between, the paragraphs should not have closing quotation marks. In those cases, a closing quotation mark should only appear when the character is finished speaking.

Some of the closing quotation marks in a few of these stories make it appear that the dialogue is switching between different speakers when it’s actually the same character speaking the whole time. I had to do some backtracking now and then to make sure I was following the dialogue.

Even so, the errors aren’t excessive.

To Sum It Up

Other speculative fiction fans who could go for some strange entertainment should check out this collection.

| Content Note

language kept to a “PG” level, with one comical occurrence of an obscene gesture
a small amount of violence; nothing gory
no explicit sexual content

Fighting for Survival: A Dream of Home by Kate Willis

August 22, 2025November 8, 2025Leave a comment

A Dream of Home
by
Kate Willis

| Description

• Science Fiction | Short Story

Ripped from the only planet she’s ever known, Tova must fight for her and her unborn daughter’s survival through space travel, forced servitude, and everyone standing between her and a new home.

| My Thoughts

Because I’d read a few stories in other genres by this author before, as soon as I heard she’d be writing some sci-fi from a Jewish angle, my interest was piqued. Then I was further drawn in by the shadows, the lights, and the image of hope on the cover of this short prequel.

A Determined Heroine

As for what I liked most about the story itself: Tova’s determination, especially on behalf of her daughter, in the midst of what could have looked like an impossible situation. Now, because even with tragic or perilous stories, the effects of tears begin to wear off for me with repeated mentions of them, I would have found one good scene describing Tova crying to be more impactful in a story this short, rather than mentions of her tears in multiple chapters. A minor thing for me.

More Where This Came From

Overall, this is an intriguing prequel. Speculative fiction fans will want to check out the Kenaz series.

| Content Note

no profanity
no graphic violence
no sexual content

Theft on the Nile by Tracy Higley

October 13, 2023February 2, 20242 Comments

Theft on the Nile by Tracy L. Higley

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Description: As a university math professor, Audrey knows how to solve problems. But the one problem she can’t solve? The whereabouts of her brother, missing for seven months. When a vintage travel poster advertising a Nile riverboat cruise reveals a startling anomaly, Audrey stumbles into a strange adventure. Now she’s trying to rescue her brother, return a stolen Egyptian artifact, and solve a murder—all while navigating the unfamiliar world of Egypt one hundred years in the past.

My thoughts: I’ve enjoyed a good handful of books by this author before, and the cover of this short story immediately attracted the historical mystery lover in me.

Granted, the heroine is dressed in her modern-day clothes when she arrives back in time. But my brain may have cheated a little to make the story “look” more like the great cover artwork in my head as I went along.

This quick read is an enjoyable one. Admittedly, I found the moderate number of punctuation/dialogue tag errors to be a little distracting, but I’m not sure if the complimentary copy I received is the same as the version for sale.

I’ve already got copies of all the books about Sahara Aldridge, so it’ll be cool to finally get a look at her full story after being briefly introduced to her in this mystery.

The Time Travel Journals of Sahara Aldridge Series

A Long Way from Home by Laura Schaefer

June 12, 2023February 2, 20242 Comments

Science Fiction Book

Book reviews are subjective. I tend to rate books not according to how “perfect” they are, seem to be, or are said to be in general but rather to how perfect they are to me.

4 Stars

A Long Way from Home by Laura Schaefer

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Description: Twelve-year-old Abby has a lot to worry about: Climate change. The news. The Great Pacific Garbage Patch. And now moving to Florida for her mom’s new job at an aerospace company. On the Space Coast, Abby meets two boys from a time in the future when all the problems of the 21st century have been solved. When Abby strikes a deal to go with the boys, she’s forced to question her longing for a perfect future and her complicated feelings about the present.

My thoughts, beginning with a confession: I’d forgotten the book blurb specifics I’d seen months before. But on account of the book cover, I imagined that most (or maybe half?) of this middle grade sci-fi story would take place in the future and/or on another planet.

So, given that all but a few moments of this story actually take place in present-day USA, my expectations took somewhat of a hit. My interest hovered at a mild level through most of the read, dipping during some of Abby’s ordinary experiences and also through some of the paragraphs and pages of info about the space program.

But then, the last quarter or so of the novel? I loved it. Even if I didn’t find Abby’s main friend from the future as interesting as his younger sidekick, and one or two of the eventual character breakthroughs didn’t quite feel earned to me, I loved the overall culmination.

And in one of those late moments, when Abby says “because I already have”—well, I won’t spoil the ending by explaining. But it resonated with me so much that I could have hurled the book across the room. In a good way.

Gah! Moments like that never get old to this bibliophile.