I’VE HIT ANOTHER MILESTONE

While yesterday I might have posted my 136th book review for this year here on my blog; yesterday I posted my  200th  review on Amazon.

I’ve loved reading/reviewing those books as it gives me something constructive to do instead of doing nothing. I’ve been retired about 5 years and 8 1/2 months now and while second career as an author has slowed down to a crawl; my 2nd second career as a Book Reviewer has become something I couldn’t imagine when I began about 14 months ago in earnest. I know I’ve done a great review when the authors compliment me regarding the review I’d written for their books.  

With the holidays coming in less than two months, if you’re considering giving a book to your child, a friend, a family member. or even yourself; you’re always invited to check my reviews out on Amazon.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/profile/A19QLCLVPLZH0B 

THANKS for following my blog.

Have a GREAT DAY !!!  🙂 🙂 🙂 

Love

Robin Leigh

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BOOK REVIEW # 2015-136 – MOVING ON

I received a free download of this book through The Romance Reviews website  [http://www.theromancereviews.com]   in return for my honest opinion

How would you feel if the wonderful guy you’re about to marry suddenly ups and dies just a week before your wedding day, then you’ll know precisely how Anna felt when her fiancé, Murray, had died. Unfortunately since that tragic day, on a daily basis she would receive an onslaught of condolences, gazing looks of sympathy, etc. from both friends and strangers alike.

Eventually Anna had taken all she could bare and decides ditch her current environment and move to the cottage she’s inherited from her fiancé and his family in Regina Beach.

As a child of the 1950’s I can remember those autograph books we used to use when we graduated junior high school [9th grade at the school I went to] where we would say congratulations to our friends. etc. Sometimes we would write little fun things like:

2 GOOD

2 B

4 GOT TEN    [which was written as an addition problem] or things like:

“Don’t make love by the garden gate. Love is blind, but the neighbors ain’t.”

This is the kind of place Regina Beech is, a place where everyone has to know everyone else’s business; and this is especially true when it came to someone who’s just moved there.

Along with Anna who’s here to recover from her drastic loss, we have Nick, a Sergeant in the Canadian Army who came home to recover from his tragic accident where he lost a limb due to an IED explosion. Both of these two main characters were there to find some sort of solace from their own predicaments, and it’s a chance meeting her first night in Regina Beach which and brought these two “lost” souls together.

I loved how the relaxed dialogue shortly ensued soon afterwards and then eventually led their relationship to blossoming into one of a more serious nature. However, this could never grow into a truly open relationship since she refuses to talk about her past, and he refuses to talk about his future, especially where it concerns his desire to return to active duty. Who will be the first one to break the silence and share their secret? Will their relationship become a happy ever after one?  I’m not saying, but I am giving Ms. Bower’s book 5 STARS !!!

US:  http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00O2HZ4LW

UK:  http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00O2HZ4LW

STATUS REPORT # 65

About two weeks ago I got something in the mail which for the lack of any better words, reminded me of old I am. I received my Medicare card. YES, I’m going to be 65 shortly.

Having worked for the City of New York it means changing the health insurance my dear OH and I have. There’s a window of time in which I have to make my decision as to what I should take, otherwise I’ll have to wait an entire year to make any change.

This is something you can’t go blindly into, so last week I spent Monday arranging to go to the city to the union I’d belong to for counseling. Luckily I’ve got the best plan to be able to split out and calculate the new family insurance plan rates.

On Tuesday, since we go to the nearby senior center, along with the home attendant my OH has, for lunch; I couldn’t take the bus until after 1:00 PM. Needless to say, given my luck these days, when I got to where I needed to be, I found out they close at 3:00 PM for any new arriving individuals. This meant I wasted an entire afternoon, having to go back home empty-handed. The next day, I caught AN EARLY bus, and arrived at my destination to be the first person to be seen.

The day turned out to be to my advantage since I learned the two of us can have our own individual insurances because neither of us has any dependent children. Because of this my pension will increase slightly because it will be offset by having to pay for my Part B Medicare payments, and the good news is I’m supposed to get most of/if not all of these payments back the following year around August.

With two days spent taking care of this, I’d created a huge backlog of things I usually do. Spending every moment I could I’ve cleaned my backlog of books to read/review – – – only have 1 book now on my TBReviewed pile.

As for my writing endeavors are concerned, my two major WIPs are still on the back burner; my short story still needs some tweaking, and my endeavor to write something outside of my “comfort” zone needs a total rewrite, mostly because of a lack of any dialogue.

With all this, even with the help of a home attendant, I still need to look after my love. But at the same time, I’ve once again making myself available for interviews and guest blog posts.

 

BOOK REVIEW # 2015-135 – TRUSTING JACK

I don’t know why but I find something special when I read a romance novel where love is found, lost and found again. While losing a loved one is bad enough when he/she dies from an illness or having their life snuffed out due to an accident or even worse at the hand of someone else; having it happen through divorce results in a devastating, traumatic effect on the individual.

I loved how Ms. Hale wasted no time in getting to the apparent reason for emotional split between Emma and Ryan which culminated in their getting a divorce; both had made a mistake in their rushing to be married.

Naturally, after this Emma wanted to get her life back to the way it was, and to the job she once had in the movie industry before she’d entered this dismal period in her existence. Soon after she rejoined actress Norah Jackson as her personal assistant, she meets Jack Brandon who’s a sexy, young, inexperienced actor.

Although each had a kismet-like attraction to each other the moment they first met, each carries baggage from a previous love affair they once had. Both Emma and Jack are hesitant in allowing themselves to experience the kind of love they’re both seeking, which in turn creates them having an almost rollercoaster-like relationship.

Does their relationship in the happy ever after? I’m not going to say as I’d like you to share the emotions I’d experienced in reading this book. The story is well-developed without any of the sex scenes you might expect, which is why I’ve given Ms. Hale 5 STARS.

US:  http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00ECZV076

UK:  http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00ECZV076

The Writer’s Journey – Guest, Robin Leigh Morgan

I would to hear from you and any comments/questions you might have.

Kim's Musings

My next guest for THE WRITER’S JOURNEY is ROBIN LEIGH MORGAN.
Welcome and Thank you, Robin, for sharing your journey with us.

CHANGING GENRES

Some of us who have chosen to write fiction come from a variety of places. And by “a variety of places,” I’m not referring to a physical location; I’m referring to our writing experiences.

There are some of us who have enjoyed writing since we were children, and each year, by writing something in school, it improved. For some of us, it continued until we graduated college and began working. Some of us entered the work force taking jobs, which required us to write, whether it was procedures, handbooks/manuals, or news stories. But all of these are non-fiction, and each one has a set of “rules” that need to be followed to write something well enough to be acceptable.

As for myself, while my regular job did not…

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BOOK REVIEW # 2015-134 – THE BACKYARD BUG HUNTERS

I received a KINDLE Edition of this book in connection with the first book of this series, “A Kids in the Tree House Book” which I’d won through a giveaway on LibraryThing, and the following is my honest opinion.

Ms. Cole has once again written an early reader children’s book revolving around the activities of two young boys around six years old, probably due to the inspiration she’s received from her own two sons and her own experience as a girl their age.

In this story Caleb and Logan want to go bug hunting. They gather various materials and construct two nets to use to catch their bugs, and after each has caught one, Logan suggests they need a natural habitat to place their bugs in. He gets a large empty pickle jar from the recycling area of their house, punches holes in the lid so the bugs can have some air to breathe and places leaves and twigs in the jar to complete the habitat.

They’re now ready to begin their hunting in their backyards. The bugs they found under a rock moved too fast for them to catch. Logan, apparently the smart of these two, knew a butterfly’s wings were too delicate to be caught and that some caterpillars can be poisonous.

Naturally Caleb’s young brother wants to join the hunt but is delegated to holding the bug jar and closing the lid tightly after the bugs are caught. All is well until they decided to catch bees, and when they realized the jar is full of now angry bees and decided to open to the jar to let them go. What happens next is exciting and almost deadly; but somewhat humorous to Caleb’s twin sister Isabella.

While the story is quite suitable for boys around the age of six, it can also be enjoyed by girls who want to read something about how weird they feel boys can be at this age; which is why I’ve given the author and her book 5 STARS.

US:  http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B014UAWQEI

UK:  http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B014UAWQEI

 

BOOK REVIEW # 2015-133 – THE OLD MAN AND THE CAT

I received an ARC [Advanced Reader’s Copy] of this book from the publisher through a GoodReads giveaway; and the following is my honest opinion.

My dear OH and I are cat lovers and have at least one cat for over 20 years.  And no matter what you might think you might out, as the author of this book found out, a cat adopts/owns you and not the other way around.

Shortly after the author and his wife return from a trip to Namibia in Africa a small kitten appeared at their bedroom window. The kitten kept on appearing in their garden before Mr. Uddenberg realized it must have been spending the nights in the shed he had, sleeping curled up on his gloves. After returning home from a two-week trip to Stockholm he figure it would no longer be there, and would have gone back home. However it was still there, and began to increasingly endearing itself to the author.

Once he allowed it to enter their home, he began to use his experience as a psychologist to analyze its behavior. The author never had a pet, and didn’t expect to have one now, but he did. The author wrote this book to show how their relationship grew and both developed a need/respect/understanding for each other. This is endearing book for anyone who loves the relationship they share with their own cats/dogs.

When we adopted another cat when our second cat had died, we were taken into one of the rooms the shelter had their cats in and while there were several beautiful young cats there, one in particular came over to me and gave me head-butts on my hand demanding my attention to rub it and to take it home.

In reading/reviewing the ARC copy of this book several things had to be kept in mind. First and foremost is the fact that it’s an UNCORRECTED proof copy of the book; meaning errors might be found throughout the book. Furthermore, since this book is the English translation from the original Swedish, errors might be found regarding the translation as well. When I looked at the preview pages of the German translation of this book, I read the first paragraph, and given the knowledge I still have from my college days, I found it to be more of what the English translation should look like.

There’s been no change in the preview pages for this book from what I have in my ADVANCED UNCORRECTED PROOF copy so I’ve got to wonder if the necessary changes have been made, which leaves me to give this book 3 STARS. However, I love the endearing story which has been presented here I would like to give it 5 STARS. In the end, given the quandary which has presented itself here, I’m giving this book 4 STARS.

US:  http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1250059755

UK:  http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1250059755

BOOK REVIEW # 2015-132 – HOW TO WRITE A SIMPLE BOOK REVIEW

I received a e-book version of this book through a giveaway on LibraryThing from the author, and the following is my honest opinion.

To set the record straight I’ve been a Book Reviewer since last August and when I saw Ms. Abbott’s book being offered as a giveaway I decided to enter it basically to see if I’ve learning anything through my own experiences writing reviews. Surprise it to say I’ve not, which means the author has done a thorough job in presenting the information contained in this book.

I didn’t start being a Book Reviewer, I started as an author almost three years, and currently have two books written and self-published. I began reading/reviewing books as a way of increasing my writing knowledge with books I’d obtained through giveaways throughout the internet.

Ms. Abbott is correct is saying authors are always looking for reviewers of their books which is why many times they use giveaways. The unfortunately thing is while they hope they get a review for each book they giveaway, they seldom get it.  So if you happen to receive a book through a giveaway, kindly right a review for the author in return. And if you do write a review for such a book, there is a FTC regulation which states you need to disclose this information in the review, just like I have here.

There are several kinds of reviews prevalent on sites like Amazon, and they run the gamut from quick one sentence jobs to those are filled with spoilers [giving away the plotline/detailed information about the book].

The real function of a review is to whet a potential reader’s interest in the book; that they wind up buying. One of the things I try to do in my review is to personalize it or to give a reference to a movie or even a song which someone reading the review can relate to.

While the author had mentioned authors being published by traditional publishers have an advantage over indie authors is the publishers handle promotions of the books. The fact of the matter is many times these authors at times have to do quite a bit of the promotions on their own.

How can you tell if you’ve written a good review? One of the ways is the HELPFUL votes your review has review. As for myself, it’s when the authors sends a THANK YOU message telling you how much they’ve enjoyed reading your review.

For educating others in becoming a book reviewer, I’ve given Ms. Allyson R Abbott 5 STARS.

NOTE: The author has used the British spelling of certain words and phrases in writing her book.

US:  http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B015FQ85SW

UK:  http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B015FQ85SW

BOOK REVIEW # 2015-131 – ST CLAIR’S DEFEAT

I received a mobi.File [KINDLE] copy of this book from the author through a recent giveaway he had on LibraryThing and the following is my honest opinion.

One of my best subjects in high school was history where I had about a 92/93 average, and American History was my favorite of all the history classes I had.

One of the main reasons I can see this defeat has been repeatedly passed over is the lack of flamboyancy General St. Clair had when we compared him to General Custer. This is in spite of the fact that General Custer’s massacre had been only a fraction of the one St. Clair and his army experienced.

Native American history has for too long been swept under the rug and forgotten about. Although the historical documentation exists it has, in my opinion, been tucked away in archives gathering dust. I know how hard it is to research a particular event in history, as I’ve helped someone doing research on such an item, and had gone with this individual to Washington, D.C. where I was given access to the stacks of the Library of the Library of Congress for a given range of the LC classification system for books.

One interesting thing about this event is, if you recall all the history you ever took, while any major event in history has been usually been named for its location, this event was named for the person most responsible for it happening.

It is for this reason I admired the tenacity Mr. Walker had in gathering the information contained in this book and for presenting it in readable form which is so prevalent in most history books. Not only has this author merely given the information pertaining to this tragic event in American History, he has given the readers of this book some insight about the event. This is why I’m giving this book the 5 STARS it so richly deserves.

US: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B016C7B11G

UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B016C7B11G

BOOK REVIEW # 2015-130 – THE SECRET NO-GIRLS CLUB

I received a mobi.File [KINDLE] copy of this book through a LibraryThing giveaway held by the author and the following is my honest opinion.

When I saw the title of this book I immediately got a nostalgic memory of my childhood, watching episodes of the original Hal Roach’s “Little Rascals” on the Black/White television we had at home. The particular episode was entitled He-Man Woman Haters Club and got started because no boy got invited to a certain party given by a girl. Spanky wanted to elect Alfalfa because . . . no need to go into any further details here.

While this story’s plot is not as complex, I loved the innocence portrayed by Logan and Caleb with their separation of the sexes by wanting to form a secret club which would allow no girls to join; even their rules excluded them. Boys and girls of this young age tend to keep apart from each other.

They ran into problems when it came to selecting their President. Ultimately they allowed Logan’s sister, Isabella, to join their secret club and somehow she got elected as their President.

It’s interesting; this is how the episode of The Little Rascal episode ended, with Darla Hood, Alfalfa’s “love interest,” getting elected as the President of their club. I know many grandparents will the connection between these two items, and will have the same kind of nostalgic memory as I have.

I found the language used in this book when it came to the dialogue to be authentic for the ages of its characters, and well suited as a whole for the audience this book has been written for; and is the reason I’ve given Ms. Cole 5 STARS for her endeavor here.

 

US:   http://www.amazon.com/dp/B013I197M4

 

UK:   http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B013I197M4