Elizabeth Hughes’ Book Periscope


The Girl From Copenhagen by Glenn Peterson is a memoir of his mother, Inge. This memoir is very interesting and is a first hand account of when Hitler occupied Denmark and her life during WWII. She was born and grew up on her father’s farm in Denmark along with her siblings. She went to nursing school but had to give up her nursing career when she began experiencing severe edema in her ankles. She then went on to become a bookkeeper at the largest ship builder in Denmark. She met Bob Peterson at a dance in Copenhagen. After only a short time she left her life in Denmark and set off to America to marry Bob Peterson. This is the story of a small family living frugally, but very happy. This memoir will keep the reader interested from the first to the last page. I personally, found her account of life during WWII extremely interesting. This would be a perfect gift for someone you know who loves historical books or for your own home library.

Glenn Peterson’s The Girl from Copenhagen is available here.

The Spitting Post by Jason R. Barden is a fantasy filled with more twists and turns that will really keep the reader on their toes. When you think you have it figured out another twist pops up to keep you intrigued and wanting more. The Spitting Post is about an insurance adjuster named Vincent Carpenter whose ten year marriage has crumbled. When his wife takes off to meet her lover, he decides to follow her. A car careens out of control coming at him. When he comes to, he does not remember his name or what has happened. He finds himself in a bizarre place. Then his nightmarish journey begins. He comes across a beautiful woman he knows as the Green Maiden. Then in order to find her he must go through terrors and nightmares to try to reach her. If you love bizarre fantasies that will intrigue your imagination and keep you guessing. This is the book for you. I loved it and found it hard to put down until the end.

Jason R. Barden’s The Spitting Post is available here.


SeaCity Rising by Elika Ansari is a wonderfully, delightful book about the lives of sea creatures that live in a pond in a city called Sea City. An old turtle is the King who has a daughter named Princess Dolores and also raising his niece Lenore. Babak is a timid little frog, the only one in the pond. Dr. Goldberg is a goldfish and a genius that is always inventing all kinds of things.

One day Babak takes a walk and walks a bit too far to the Dark End, the SeaCity dump. He finds a piece of paper with a dire warning written on it. Some of it is written in Dot, the language of the water Deities. Babak decides he should take it straight to the King. The King decides that he should send someone to look for the Old Woman beyond the sea for answers. Since most of the SeaCitians cannot live on dry land Lenore, Babak and Dr. Goldberg, the goldfish is selected. Dr, Goldberg invents a kind of bowl that allows him to move about on dry land.

While they rest, Babak discovers Princess Dolores has come along to be with Lenore. They meet many delightful land creatures on their adventure. This is not only a cute book for children but also contains a message of the importance of taking care of the earth and forests. Young children and elementary age will enjoy the story of these sea creatures and their adventures. I absolutely loved it.

Elika Ansari’s Seacity Rising is available here.

About Elika Ansari:

Elika Ansari is a writer, social scientist and humanitarian professional. She currently works in what has been recently described as ‘the world’s worst refugee camp’ in Greece, and as such she has had the (mis)fortune of hearing many touching stories about hardship and perseverance. She tries to focus her writing on globally relevant issues with the hope of one day making a difference through the stroke of the pen (or click of the keyboard), however small that may be. She loves writing anything from essays and articles to children’s fiction, and she does not shy away from the occasional rants about society’s downfalls. Ansari has published 100+ reviews, articles and short stories, and her debut children’s book, ‘Seacity Rising: A Tale of Unwatery Adventures’ is due to be published on June 6th, 2019 by Black Rose Writing.