Ruta Arellano – Ruta received her B.A. from the University of California, the one in Berkeley. She served as the Associate Director of the California Self-Esteem Task Force and later worked as a research specialist with multiple state agencies. She tends to read and review crime mysteries, popular fiction, survey books, books on art and interior design, business books and those books that are hard to classify. Ruta also writes reviews for the New York Journal of Books, Sacramento Book Review and San Francisco Book Review.
Joseph Arellano – Joseph received his B.A. in Communication Arts from the University of the Pacific, where he wrote music and entertainment reviews for The Pacifican and the campus radio station, KUOP-FM. He then received his J.D. (law degree) from the University of Southern California, which is why he’s pretty good at writing legal disclaimers. He has served as a Public Information Officer for a state agency, which involved a lot of writing and editing work under heavy pressure and deadlines, and he was an adjunct professor at California State University, Sacramento (CSUS). Joseph has done pre-publication editing and review work for a publisher based in England. He also writes – or has written – reviews for New York Journal of Books, Sacramento Book Review, San Francisco Book Review, Portland Book Review and Tulsa Book Review.
Munchy – Munchy is a senior Norwegian Forest Cat of the brown tabby variety. He only writes reviews of children’s books and only when he absolutely feels like it. (His children’s book reviews have appeared in San Francisco Book Review and Sacramento Book Review.) He intends to become the furry Publisher and Chief Feline Officer (CFO) of Brown Cat Books.
Dave Moyer – Dave is the author of the novel Life and Life Only and of several published short stories and essays. He regularly reviews books for this site and for the New York Journal of Books. Moyer is a former college baseball coach. A music lover and Bob Dylan junkie, Moyer has played drums in various ensembles over the years (but not with the Rolling Stones). He majored in English at the University of Wisconsin and earned a doctorate from Northern Illinois University. Moyer is a school superintendent in Southeastern Wisconsin and is an instructor for Aurora University. He currently resides in the greater Chicago area.
Kimberly Caldwell – Kimberly is a freelance writer and editor in Connecticut. She earned a B.A. in Journalism and Business at Lehigh University, and earned her chops as a reporter and copy editor at a daily newspaper, an editor of electronic display industry news, neurology studies and romance novels, and as the general manager of an independent fine-dining restaurant.
Kelly Monson – Kelly is a former school principal and special education teacher who earned her Doctorate, Educational Specialist Degree, Master’s Degree and Bachelor’s Degree from Northern Illinois University and a second Master’s in Educational Leadership from Aurora University. She is an avid reader and writer and travels extensively (with and without her three children). She currently resides in the greater Chicago area.
Joseph's Reviews 