Some people read the New York Times Book Review section for the book reviews. Other, smarter people read the New York Times Book Review just for the descriptions of the self-published books.

Each week, amid the “professional book reviews” and “interviews with professional authors” and other fancy garbage, you will find a full-page ad containing a dozen blurbs of books published by self-publishing outfits like iUniverse and Xlibris, where normal people like you and me who know they have a book inside them forcibly extract that book, and publish it. “Fresh Ideas. Unforgettable Stories,” says the copy atop this page. They got that right.

In any given week this is far and away the single best page in the Book Review. This week was no exception.

And they love it!

[PHOTOS BY AUTHOR]