Laugh Cry Reflect 2 from Amy Laundrie

 

Laugh, Cry, Reflect, Book 2
Amy Laundrie
Henschel Haus publisher, 200 pp
April 19, 2023

Print $16.95
Ebook $8.99
 
Buy on Barnes and Noble
Henschel Haus
Amazon
 
About the Book: 

This compilation of heartfelt vignettes, capturing the joys and sorrows of life, invites readers to share the author's experiences. Each has an underlying message, providing a chance for reflection.

My Review

Laundrie’s second collection of favorite newspaper columns continue to shine a positive and wholesome light on community and family. The stories about animals in her life, siblings, health, and faith are often thought-provoking, highly entertaining, and guaranteed to provide a chuckle or a challenge to readers of any age.

Divided into distinctive sections, Feathered and Furry Friends, Home Fires, Memories, Wanderlust, Nature, Wanderlust, and Grab Bag, Laundrie’s unmistakably enthusiastic style shines through. Tales of Gertie the duck are some of my favorites, invoking memories of childhood pets. I think of Cousin Vic often when I visit cemeteries, and relive the awe of splendor of natural sites such as Mammoth Cave with Laundrie. Walking with her through a health crisis is an educational experience.

Laugh, Cry, Reflect 2 is more than a collection of stories. Introducing the set is a list and a reason of some of her favorite influential books. Rounding out the collection is advice for a long, happy life. Have a purpose and forgive yourself are expanded upon with lovingkindness.

Enjoyable, delightful. Highly recommended little bites of adventures from a gifted storyteller.

 About the Author:

A retired fourth-grade teacher, Amy Laundrie began writing personal essays because of a desire to share some of her favorite stories and connect with others. Readers have called her stories poignant, humorous, and heartfelt testimonials to a woman’s life. They have universal truths and emotions that speak to a wide reading audience.

She enjoys playing tennis, pickleball, and having adventures with family, friends, and her dog Josie.

Amy also loves conducting workshops, presenting, and hearing from her readers. Contact her at laundrie@live.com or visit her online at www.Laundrie.com.

New book by Randy Richardson

 

Havana Hangover

Randy Richardson
Fiction, contemporary crime
Renegade Press LLC, March 2023
256 pp

Print $4.99

Buy on Amazon 

About the Book

Thirty-year-old Chicago corporate lawyer Tanner Ford leaves behind a painful past and lucrative job for a bucket-list trip to Cuba with Jackson Swift, his estranged best friend from law school. But when they arrive, the oddities start adding up. Jackson evades questions about his wife and kids. Their itinerary keeps changing, and their tour guide might work for a fake company. When Tanner awakes after a rum-soaked night beside Dannel, a local musician with something to hide, and a text from Jackson that reads “HELP ME,” his dream vacation turns into a fight for survival. He is held hostage in an abandoned cigar factory, interrogated by the police, and hunted down by a mysterious “ghost” in the Cuban government. Beset by anxiety and panic attacks, Tanner is hurled unwittingly into an international conspiracy leading right back to Jackson and a friendship that began in betrayal.

Havana Hangover combines the disoriented protagonist of Andrea Bartz’s The Lost Night with the political intrigue of a Paul Vidich novel. It is a story about healing, friendship, love and deceit, set within a lovingly-rendered Cuban cityscape and fueled by rapid twists and turns, eventually landing in the corrupt corners of DC politics.

 My review

Havana Hangover is a contemporary road trip gone off the edge. Attorney Tanner Ford, just long enough out of law school, realizes the big-money dream wasn’t living up to reality and decided to jump off the merry-go-round when a former law school roomie came p with tickets to a bucket-list trip of a lifetime worth crashing his career for; even giving up the final game of the World Series-serious. Cuba, magical land of hero Ernest Hemingway, beckoned, and for the first twenty-four hours or so, truly lived up to Tanner’s expectations and then some. Able to ditch his sleezy former buddy for a hot hookup, things take a serious downturn with a progression of texts ending in an all-cap call for help.

Everything about the trip and the people involved, the tour guide, the partner, the hookup girl…even Jackson, the former friend, turned out to be anything more than smoke and mirrors.

Throughout the story, which takes place at the turning tide of planetary unrest in political and pandemic turmoil, Tanner’s life seems to parallel to divide between what he knows and what he’s always dreamed of, and what he thought he wanted. Crisis after crisis, both in Cuba and at home, lead him in directions borne of fear and disgust. Havana Hangover could be read as a simple ultimate bad trip novel, but deep down, it’s a warning about the darkness of desire and depravity at every level of society. Richardson’s research and setting come from experience as an attorney and a traveler, smoothly inviting the reader into his world. Recommended for those who enjoy espionage and thrillers without pages of jargon or a host of throwaway characters.

About the Author

Randy is an attorney, former journalist, and a die-hard Cubs fan. As the president of the Chicago Writers Association, he is deeply involved with Chicago’s writing community, including as an organizer of the Let’s Just Write! conference. He is the author of two well-received novels, Cheeseland and Lost in the Ivy, as well as co-author of Cubsessions, all from hybrid publisher Eckhartz Press. His essays have been published in numerous anthologies and literary magazines including Hypertext and Memory House. Visit his website, randyrichardson.co, to learn more about his work.