Blog, Book Reviews, Articles & More
Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow Review
…the characters and their interactions and complications seem so much like they might in real life, which is to say messy and somewhat dysfunctional yet redeeming in a quiet way.
Book Review: The Heart Goes Last
The best speculative, like Atwood, take a modern trend or problem and spin it out to an extreme “solution” that serves as a social commentary enlightening readers about the absurdity of how we have acclimated to the seeds of absurdity…
Book Review: Parable of the Sower
Woven through Parable of the Sower is a hopeful thread that something better is possible and out there if we are brave enough, crafty enough, and compassionate enough to follow its tug…
Termination Shock by Neal Stephenson Book Review
Neal Stephenson’s Termination Shock is a speculative fiction romp through what might happen if climate change got bad enough for private actors and small countries to go rogue with geoengineering tactics—in this case shooting sulfur dioxide into the stratosphere—to slow the impacts of global warming. What could go wrong?
Wild Things
Whenever we go for a hike in the woods, my husband carries a stick that he claims is for taming a bear. Wisely, the bears have steered clear, but the gleam in his eye…
The Ministry for the Future
The Ministry for the Future reads like modern life—a few narrative threads interspersed with breaking news, social media feeds, sudden technological breakthroughs, secret intrigue, and random acts of terror…
About Kristine
Kristine Madera is an Amazon #1 bestselling author who writes fiction and nonfiction shaped by travel, culture, and lived cross-cultural experience.
Inspired while volunteering at Mother Teresa’s Home for the Dying in Calcutta, her novel God in Drag examines what happens when spiritual faith fractures in the sacred city of Varanasi. Read the first chapter of God in Drag HERE
She birthed her upcoming novel, The Snakeman’s Wife, as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Papua New Guinea.
Be on the lookout for her Etiquette Express Guides, a series of short, practical travel guides that help readers understand the customs, social expectations, and everyday dos and don’ts that make travel smoother and more connected.
Her travels have taken her across India, Asia, Europe, Australia, and Papua New Guinea as both a backpacker and Peace Corps Volunteer. A portion of her book proceeds supports cross-cultural education scholarships.
You don’t need to “master” a culture to move through it well.
You just need a few steady skills:
- How to stay curious,
- How to adjust without performing
- How to recover gracefully when you miss a cue—because we all do.
This free PDF guide gives you 12 simple, human skills you can use anywhere: whether traveling abroad, navigating a new city, joining a host family, starting a new job, or even re-entering your own life after a trip.