Category: Book Reviews

Happy Tuesday, readers and writers! I had a doozy of a weekend. The deadline for the first feedback session in my master’s program this year was early yesterday, and I was bedridden all day Saturday with a crippling migraine. That’s for another post, though. Right now I want to talk about a fairly handy (and short) book I came across recently, The Blogger Trailmap: How to Take Your Blog to the Next Level in Easy Steps by Chivi Frost.

The Blogger Trailmap takes readers through a step-by-step guide to creating a successful blog. Whether your goal is to make money off your blog or just raise awareness for a subject you’re passionate about, Frost’s advice will help you to optimize your blog’s potential and navigate the often confusing world of SEO, affiliate marketing, and e-mail harvesting. Visual aids and free resources through zavesti.com supplement the experience and expand the book’s reach to visual and hands-on learners as well as traditional learning through reading.

I’ve read more than my fair share of blogging resources. After all, I’ve been working at building and strengthening The Writer’s Scrap Bin for over a year now. Most of them highlight the same tips for running a blog: finding a niche, posting on a regular schedule, SEO optimization, engaging with readers, etc. In that way, this book is like most other blogging resources. However, The Blogger Trailmap provides a new perspective on these well-worn topics. It is a concise guide to the marketing and personalization aspects of blogging and clearly lays out each step from launching your blog to building your community and selling physical and digital products through your blog.

The most unique element of this book is the personalized approach it advocates. Of course, almost all tips to blogging emphasize giving your blog its own identity. They all talk about choosing the right topics for your posts, creating a presence on the right social media sites, and so on. Frost, though, takes this idea a step further and recommends personalizing your blog for not just your brand but also for your audience. For example, Frost explains that if your readers are mostly senior citizens, you should make your blog easy to navigate with a slightly larger font and closely watch out for e-mails asking for helping getting around your site. This book shows that a blogger cannot just think from the writer’s perspective; they must put themselves in the reader’s shoes as well.

The most helpful part of The Blogger Trailmap, however, would have to be the visual aids and free resources scattered throughout the guide. While I learn very well through reading, I usually do better in these cases when I have a visual aid and/or some sort of template that I can use as an example and modify for my own needs. Frost seems to understand this idea very well and by teaming up with the marketing site zavesti.com, The Blogger Trailmap is able to create an experience which benefits all kinds of learners.

If you are more of a vlogger than a blogger, you can still benefit from perusing this guide. Frost oscillates between discussing things from a blogger’s—so textual—perspective and discussing things from a vlogger’s—videos and photos—view. As Frost explains, in today’s world blogging and vlogging are flip sides of the same coin and often become intermingled, so it is almost impossible to explore one without considering the other.

Overall, Chivi Frost’s The Blogger Trailmap is a very useful tool for both novice and veteran bloggers/vloggers. At only about sixty-two pages, it’s a quick read and easy to skim through after the initial read in order to find the information you need to access. While Frost recommends following each step sequentially, bloggers who are already established can find where they fall on the trail map and pick up from that point in the book without any problems. The only issue I really take with this guide is that it could use further proofreading. I noticed multiple grammatical errors, but those who aren’t already writers and/or editors might not notice them, so just proceed knowing that you may encounter these.

Youcan buy The Blogger Trailmap by ChiviFrost as an eBook on Amazon. Also make sure to check out zavesti.com for more free resources and help related to marketing, blogging, and self-publishing.

Ifyou are looking for a broader view of blogging, including snagging a domain andthe technical side of running a website, be sure to also check out Writer’s Market Deluxe Edition 2017.

Do you know of any books I should read? E-mail me at thewritersscrapbin@gmail.com and let me know!

Trigger Warning: The Magic List: Girl Invictus by Mark Tiro contains depictions of violence and rape. If you are triggered by such depictions or otherwise wish to avoid reading them, proceed with caution.

Happy Friday, readers and writers! I want to start this weekend with a special look at a new release from author Mark Tiro. You might remember him from my reviews of his books Implicit: Soul Invictus and All These Things (The Spirit Invictus Series Book 2). I have been given the honor of reading and reviewing an advanced reader copy of the third book in The Spirit Invictus series, The Magic List: Girl Invictus.

The Magic List, like the other books in The Spirit Invictus series, takes us back, but this time we are not taken back to Maya’s other lives or even just her past. Instead, The Magic List takes readers back to the most traumatic moment of Maya’s childhood, a moment of familial betrayal alluded to in All These Things. Following this tragedy, Maya finds herself in an infinite tunnel of endless light and love with no memory of what has happened to her. It is in this tunnel that she encounters a mysterious, formless being called David, someone—or something—she has known through almost every life of her spirit’s journey. This time, though, David has a special gift for her: a magical list. Anything Maya writes on this list will come true—just not always in the way Maya expects it to.

From one item on her list to the next, Maya is forced to face the consequences of her reckless wish-making, and these consequences are only the tip of the iceberg she must explore in order to learn the truth. All the while, Maya is left wondering: why does this list keep going awry? Why is nothing she asks for turning out the way she wants? What is David trying to teach her with frustrating riddles? And more importantly, why does she keep reacting violently to the sound of her brother Tom’s name—is there something more that she has forgotten?

In true Spirit Invictus form, The Magic List is a complex story about spiritual exploration, philosophy, and examining the emotional nature of mankind. The first-person perspective thrusts readers right into the turmoil of Maya’s adventures, and the conversational voice that Maya assumes as the narrator makes the character easy to relate to and heightens the emotional impact of her story. However, this book is not a light read. The conversational voice certainly makes the book easier to follow and more captivating, but the first-person perspective also removes all barriers between the reader and Maya’s mind as she reflects on these events. The narrative is pure Maya, uncensored; readers get glimpses at what is going on outside of Maya’s narration, but overall, her journey is our journey, and her confusion is our confusion. It is a chaotic form of storytelling which I’ve only ever come close to with one other writer—William Faulkner in Benjy’s section of The Sound and the Fury—and while Tiro mostly pulls off this method, there were still moments which I got confused as to what was happening and was forced to stop and think about what must have happened.

Even with such confusion, this novel is still gripping and more straightforward than the first book in the series, Implicit: Soul Invictus. The surreal tone of the first two books carries into this one, but the amount of surrealism falls somewhere between Implicit: Soul Invictus and All These Things. Maya’s wish fulfillment provides an otherworldly experience for the reader, but the main story and themes remain intact and plainly visible throughout, allowing the reader to remain grounded even as Maya’s fantasies takes us on wild adventures. Tiro’s work is certainly not for those looking for strict realism, but those who enjoy more fantastic tales that make you think will definitely want to read The Magic List.

The ever-changing nature of the narrative made it hard for me to form any attachment to the characters with three exceptions: David, Maya’s brother Sean, and Maya herself. Regardless, my ties to these characters were enough to keep me anxious to find out what happens and why all of this is happening. David, for a spiritual being, can be quite the smartarse, and I loved him for it. He’s the wisecracking hippy friend that many of us secretly wish we had, someone you can go to for wisdom and guidance but is also there when you just need a fun and loving friend. Sean, similarly, is the supportive and loving sibling we all want for ourselves and hope to be for those we consider our brothers and/or sisters. He is the typical older brother—existing in his own world yet still present in Maya’s—but is clearly close to his sister and much more sensitive than he’d probably admit. These two characters, who acted as guides for Maya in different ways, help remind the reader through the cacophony of Maya’s wishes what is actually happening to her.

Maya is, by far, the most complex and developed character and for good reason, considering that she’s narrating her own story. She is fun but annoying, both selfless and selfish, and simultaneously smart, naïve, and oblivious. Sometimes I liked her as a person, and other times…not so much. She grows tremendously by the end of the book, and that is what made me like her as a character. At times she seems a little flat or narrow-minded, but she is portrayed that way so that she may develop and become a new person.

I must warn readers that this book does not have a happy ending. At least, not entirely. It has what I would refer to as a “bitter-sweet” ending. It is fulfilling and exciting, a fitting conclusion to this story, but it is not the happily-ever-after that people have come to expect from so-called “uplifting” stories. The Magic List ends on a strong note, but if you are expecting everything to be tied up with a neat little bow by the time you finish a book, you will want to pass on this one.

Overall, The Magic List by Mark Tiro is an engaging and emotional piece of surrealist, spiritual fiction. Living the narrative so completely through Maya’s eyes may lead to some confusion, especially as more “realities” are created by Maya’s list, but things are cleared up enough by the end to understand what has happened and the lessons Maya is supposed to learn even before she recognizes them herself. You can easily read this book without reading the first two, but doing so will ruin some of the “ah-ha” moments you could experience as things from the other books start to reappear here. You should not pick up this novel casually as it does take a long time to digest fully, but it is a very satisfying read once you have the time to read and appreciate it.

The Magic List by Mark Tiro is not currently available for purchase, but I will let you know when it is released on Amazon.

To learn more about Mark Tiro, The Magic List, and The Spirit Invictus series, make sure to visit Tiro’s website, Facebook account, and Facebook author page.

Do you know of any books I should read? E-mail me at thewritersscrapbin@gmail.com and let me know!

Happy Monday/Tuesday, everyone! It promises to be another very hectic week on the home front. Writing, editing, reviewing…no rest for the wicked, right? Well, what better way to start off such chaos than with a book meant to give you a new way to look at the world and critically solve problems? Today, I am reviewing Thinking in Systems: Strategies for Problem Solving, Planning and Critical Thinking by Alex J. Golding.

Thinking in Systems breaks down a method of viewing the world and its problems called systems thinking. Rather than looking at groups/organizations as stems with removable branches and problems as strictly cause-and-effect, systems thinking involves seeing groups/organizations—even the whole universe—as a large system with several individual, sustainable, but still interlinked subsystems that work best together even though they exist independently. The book goes on to show many real-life examples of systems and systems thinking as well as explain the benefits/drawbacks of this way of thinking. By the end, you will have a good idea of how to use systems thinking in your professional, social, and personal lives.

Golding provides an in-depth look at this nontraditional way of thinking. He gives very clear examples of what systems are and how systems thinking plays out in real life, which helped to clear things up for me any time I became confused. I especially appreciated examples such as the World Trade Organization meeting protests and the downfall of the USSR. Of course, I rarely got confused while reading this guide, but that might be a result of my own way of thinking and my background in critical thinking. I went to a project-based high school which emphasized critical thinking and I have thought about the world in a manner very similar to systems thinking, and so I think it was easier for me to follow the concepts discussed here than it might be for the average reader.

Due to the thoroughness of the book’s information, it might be a slow read for many people. The ideas it expresses are also abstract and hard to describe, and so it might take re-reading certain sections in order to fully digest what Golding is saying. In general, Golding uses simple language that most readers can follow. He also explains the most important terminology in relation to systems thinking in the second chapter. The concepts themselves are what drag down the writing at points, such as in the critical thinking sections. Golding explains these ideas as well as can be done, but it also would have been nice if there had been resources available for readers to do more of their own research on the subject.

I also think that the reader could be eased into the subject better. Golding introduces the reader to systems thinking and explains what it is in the first chapter, but it feels that he rushes right into the “what” without giving much idea as to “why”. After I re-read the first few pages, I understood why I should care about this way of thinking. Before that, though, I felt like I had been pushed off an airplane without a parachute to ease my descent.

All that being said, Thinking in Systems by Alex J. Golding is a great introduction to a topic which to me is fascinating. The examples are very helpful, the definitions are as clear as can be for such abstract subjects, and the coverage is thorough. However, the book is very long (around 312 pages) and requires multiple readings in order to take complete advantage of the information and practices inside it.

You can find Thinking in Systems by Alex J. Golding on Amazon as both an eBook and in print.

Do you know of any books I should read? E-mail me at thewritersscrapbin@gmail.com and let me know!

Happy Sunday, readers and writers! Today I want to introduce you to a book which might be helpful for those of us who are not the most familiar with wireless technology and how to use it safely (i.e. with proper data security). It’s not an easy book, but it’s fascinating once you get past all the technological jargon. In this post, I am reviewing Computer Networking: The Complete Guide to Understanding Wireless Technology, Network Security, Computer Architecture and Communications Systems (Including Cisco, CCNA and CCNET) by Michael B. White.

Computer Networking covers a wide variety of topics related to wireless technology, including what wireless technology is, examples of wireless devices, how certain wireless technologies work, and even how to stay safe while using wireless networks. By the end, readers will have learned about several of the kinds of wireless technologies and devices used in the modern world and how to use them properly. Additionally, readers will have gained a brief insight into how wireless technologies have come about and evolved as well as what the future might hold for these technologies and wireless networks.

This book is a treasure trove of knowledge about computer networking and all the related technologies. It seems to leave no stone unturned, providing readers at several levels of technological knowledge with something new to think about. Personally, White broadened my understanding of what wireless technologies and devices are and how long they have actually existed. I also learned more about how all of this technology is connected and works together, such as how computer networks are used to control public telephone networks. In this day and age, the information on securely using wireless networks and other wireless technologies will prove particularly useful for those who are not too savvy on how all of this works.

However, this thoroughness makes the book more for readers who already have a basic knowledge of wireless technology. Otherwise, the reader might get a bit lost and confused in that sea of knowledge. Frankly, a lot of the information in the beginning—but after the introduction to wireless technologies and devices—feels unnecessary if you just want to know enough about this technology in order to navigate the modern world. For example, I felt the writing drag down quite a bit as White explained how satellites work. That sort of information seems more like it is for those who are delving deep into how this stuff works as part of a hobby or a career choice, rather than those looking to understand the progressively more advanced technology around them. I also had to re-read many sections in order to understand some of the terminology and processes, which sometimes caused my attention to fade temporarily.

That being said, this guide is perfect if you are truly interested in learning about the wireless world. If you just want to know what wireless technology is and how you can use it, I suggest skipping around to parts like the book’s introduction, the introduction to wireless technology, the introduction to computer networking, the conclusion, and the sections on security in regards to wireless network, data, and wireless technology. Of course, any section which explains what a certain wireless device or technology is will also be a great help to those who don’t know what every single one of these is already. (I severely doubt that any reader will know what all of them are and what they do without any doubts, so I definitely recommend paying close attention to these sections even if you think already know this information.) If you are interested in how we got to this point and where these developments will take us, I also highly recommend reading the sections on the key milestones in computer networking history, the future of wireless technology, and the future of wireless networking.

Overall, Computer Networking by Michael B. White is a great guide for this topic. It’s thorough, well-informed, and well-organized. Still, don’t expect a quick read and do not expect to understand it all from one reading alone. To fully absorb all of the information, you must read the book, or at least some sections, multiple times; you might even have some related terms that you will have to look up. It also would have been useful if White had included resources which readers could use to conduct their own research on the subject. You might even have to find some more basic books if you don’t have a firm foundation with wireless technology when you start reading this guide. If you have a strong, basic understanding of this topic, though, Computer Networking will supplement your knowledge very well and teach you to view the wireless world in new ways.

You can find Computer Networking by Michael B. White on Amazon.

Do you know of any books I should read? E-mail me at thewritersscrapbin@gmail.com and let me know!

So much to talk about, so much to do, and so little time and will for any of it. TGIF! I hope everyone has had a good and productive week. I’ve been thinking a lot about investing lately (mostly thanks to mirco-investment apps like Acorn and Stash), so I thought I would start the weekend off with a review of a book on a particular kind of investment: real estate. Today, I’m reviewing Modern Real Estate Investing by John Harvey.

There is no such thing as “easy money.” Some sources of income, though, are easier than others, even in the elaborate and confusing world of investment. But with the wide variety of opportunities and significant risks, which investment is the easiest option? There is no “one-size-fits-all” sort of investment guaranteed to be easy and right for everyone. Nevertheless, the experts at Cornerstone Real Estate Investment Services recommend those looking for a truly passive, tax-sheltered income consider a little-know kind of real estate investment for an easy monthly income: a Delaware Statutory Trust, or DST.

In their new book Modern Real Estate Investing, John Harvey, David Kangas, and Trawnegan Gall of the Cornerstone firm give readers an in-depth analysis of this unique investment category. The book covers almost everything that a potential investor would want to know: what a DST is, its history, the advantages and disadvantages, the risks, etc. Case studies, charts, tables, and other visual aids accompany the information, making the more complicated concepts accessible. By the end, readers will have everything they need in order to make an informed decision on such an investment; whatever they don’t understand, the appendices and list of resources in the final pages can surely help clear up.

First and foremost, I should mention that the writers are surprisingly balanced in their presentation of the information. Of course, they focus on the positives of the DST as they are trying to convince readers that it is a viable investment opportunity. Regardless, they also thoroughly cover the disadvantages and risks. They do not hide anything just because it will make the option seem less appealing; instead, they show the reader everything about the trust and the structure behind it, even the illiquidity and lack of control over the property. Yet they also emphasize that the good outweighs the bad, allowing readers to make their own decisions while providing them with some necessary guidance.

I must say that this is not a light read. Given the subject matter, Modern Real Estate Investing utilizes a lot of financial and legal jargon. Fortunately, the writers explain each concept enough that even a novice will, eventually, understand what is being said; just don’t expect the experience to be effortless on the reader’s part. The topic also makes the writing rather dry. However, it picks up when discussing the advantages of a DST and when demonstrating the potential financial gain. The visual aids and case studies, which are themselves diverse and fascinating, keep the reader from being too overwhelmed by the facts. As all the information is crucial, one must just take the dull with the exciting.

That being said, this book is a must-read for anyone looking to enter the world of investment or diversify their portfolio. Career people wanting to supplement their income will especially need this book. As the writers explain, the DST is passive income that does not require the investor to take care of the property as other real estate investments do, and so the DST is ideal for people who simply cannot devote the time to being a landlord or hands-on investor. First-time investors will also appreciate the comparisons with other forms of investment, which will help them to decide whether or not the DST is the right investment for them to make.

Now, not everyone should read this book. In all honesty, those with lower incomes will not find it very useful. After all, the average investment for a DST is $100,000 ($25,000 for a direct investment). At more than 300 pages long, this book would take too much time from those without true interest in investment. Clearly, the writers are not presenting a “get rich quick” scheme. Still, Modern Real Estate Investing is an eye-opening glimpse into the structure and process of some forms of investing, and so those with a genuine interest in investing, regardless of income, will find it worth the read.Overall, Modern Real Estate Investing by John Harvey, David Kangas, and Trawnegan Gall is both informative and helpful. The writing isn’t the most engaging, but you will not find a more comprehensive guide to the DST. Best of all, as one author is the owner of Cornerstone and all three are licensed general securities representatives, you know the writers know what they are talking about. Before making any real estate investment decisions, read this book. You’ll be glad that you did.

You can buy a paperback copy of Modern Real Estate Investing by John Harvey on Amazon and through Barnes & Noble.

Do you know of a book I should read? E-mail me at thewritersscrapbin@gmail.com and let me know!

 

Trigger Warning: The book reviewed in this post, Where Wildfires Glow by Mutch Katsonga contains depictions of abuse and violence. If you are triggered by such depictions or otherwise wish to avoid them, proceed with caution.

Well, everyone, my county has been through Hell the past week, but for the most part, we’re still here. In case you did not see in my previous post, a rapidly-growing wildfire has been devastating my neck of California, getting within twenty miles of my parents’ house. Fortunately, the fire has since changed directions and slowed down its growth, and our amazing firefighters have now brought it to thirty percent containment. Unfortunately, we’re not out of the woods yet, as made evident by the fact that my grandparents’ area is still under evacuation orders. Still, life goes on, and I am here to bring you another book review. Proving that the universe has a twisted sense of humor, today’s book is Where Wildfires Glow by Mutch Katsonga.

The grass is always greener on the other side. At least, that’s what they say. We always envy those who have more than us materially. We assume that because they have a good house, a nice car, and financially comfortable lives that they must not have any problems to complain about. Yet money or no money, all humans have problems and at one points, everything has to come to a head. Such is life at Resnik Manor in Mutch Katsonga’s Where Wildfires Glow.

State Trooper Elmer Reed is on the trail of a supposed stalker terrorizing hikers and campers. He has finally caught up to the suspect, and things are about to take a very bizarre turn. Instead of an adult creep, Reed has discovered a twelve-year-old runaway from one of the richest, best-known homes in the area, Resnik Manor. But who is this boy? If Resnik Manor is so well-off, why did he run away? Most importantly, what will become of him now that he has been caught by the authorities?

What unfolds is the heart-wrenching story of a poor boy forced, alone, into a very unfamiliar environment filled with lies, deception, sex, alcohol, and violence. Where Wildfires Glow follows this boy as he tries to adapt to his new life, survive mistreatment, and make sense of this complex, drama-filled family which has taken him in. While everyone, including his social worker, thinks that he is lucky to be taken into this world, looks can be deceiving. After all, everyone has skeletons in their closet just waiting to claw their way out into the open.

Regular readers of this blog might recognize Mutch Katsonga as an author I have reviewed before, first for Beyond the Spiral Gates and then for The Ghost Years. I have come to expect emotionally real, dark, and somewhat bizarre stories from this author, and I am happy to say that Where Wildfires Glow does not disappoint. That also means that this story is not for the faint of heart. Katsonga ensures to keep things just detailed enough readers to understand what is happening while not being overly-graphic. Regardless, the inclusion of child abuse, teenaged sex, and alcoholism is not censored or softened. They are represented in their full reality, something which sets Katsonga apart from and above other writers like him but might also cause more sensitive readers to steer clear of his works.

Where Wildfires Glow explores parts of society which are too often overlooked in mainstream works, including homosexual couples, single-parent families, and abused children. Better yet, Katsonga does not just make the characters stereotypes; he explores their individual personalities, making each character stand out as unique individuals. From Dave, the “Clark Kent” tutor, to Raven, the Gothic and rebellious teenager, and even the main character himself, each character clearly has their strengths, their weaknesses, and their vulnerabilities, some of which are puzzling until revelations are made later in the story. Yes, some character stereotypes are used—Raven in particular comes to mind here—but Katsonga turns these stereotypes on their heads and uses them as a way to critique how we view “different” people through a very shallow lens.

There is a lot of exposition and commentary on the lessons and emotions the character face in the narration. At first, I thought this would annoy me as I am usually a strong advocate for “show, don’t tell” unless the writing style calls for a different approach. In the case of this novel, it seems that the writing style does justify “telling” over “showing”. I soon found that the exposition and commentary enhanced my emotional engaged with the story and established a certain tone and much-needed backstory, and the story would not be the same without it.

Katsonga takes some chances in the writing style of this novel, in particular with trying to write a journal entry, in a transcript style for a radio show, and trying to record TV coverage of an event. I believe these risks paid off, although more so for the transcript and TV coverage than the journal entry. These experiments make the book even more realistic, especially in regards to how tragedies are covered, and most of the methods are executed surprisingly well.

My only real complaint comes from some proofreading errors in the copy I read. A few were more noticeable, such as a missing word here and there, but most were minor enough that only a perfectionist such as myself would notice. They do not detract from the overall quality of the work; I would just like to see better proofreading in today’s novels overall.

All in all, Where Wildfires Glow is a wonderful, if emotionally draining, read. The writing is brisk and easy to get through, making the 296 pages a quicker read than one would expect. Katsonga combines controversial topics with a creative, experimental writing style to create a gripping, emotional, and all-too-real novel. While some of the events in this book are extraordinary and make the book border on the supernatural, they also help make the story feel even more real as they highlight some of those feelings most common among humans: grief, loneliness, sadness, and, at the bottom of this Pandora’s box, hope.

You can buy Where Wildfires Glow by Mutch Katsonga on Amazon.

Do you know of any books I should read? E-mail me at thewritersscrapbin@gmail.com and let me know!

 

Hello, readers and writers. I can’t really say “good day” or anything similar today. For those of my readers who live in California, you’ve probably heard about the Carr fire by now. Unfortunately, that fire has reached the largest city near me and some family members have already had to evacuate, so my stress levels are pretty high right now. The good thing is that my parents and I are not in any danger right now and the family members who have evacuated have found somewhere to stay. That’s why I feel safe, despite the fire, to share another book review with you. Today, the review is for Mastering Cognitive Behavioral Therapy by Michael Garron.

You might remember Michael Garron as the author of another book I have reviewed on this blog before, Emotional Intelligence. While Emotional Intelligence discusses how you can read your emotions and those of people around you and then use that information to interact with others successfully, Mastering Cognitive Behavioral Therapy is about learning to overcome those emotions which are self-destructive: depression, anxiety, anger, etc. In this book, Garron provides the reader with everything they need to initiate cognitive behavioral therapy, from a detailed description of the practice to positivity exercises to approaches individualized for specific emotions/conditions like those listed above. It’s more than just a how-to book; it explains in-depth why you should do something, how it can help you, and any possible downsides.

As with Emotional Intelligence, this thoroughness drags down Garron’s writing at some points in Mastering Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. In particular, I feel that it takes a long time to get to the heart of the matter—using cognitive behavioral therapy to help manage emotional issues/conditions—because a lot of time is spent in the beginning explaining what cognitive behavioral therapy is. Readers need this information in order to understand what this process is and how it works, but I still got bored at points trying to get through what felt like repetitive information.

Once the book really gets started, though, it’s a quick and easy read while still providing the necessary information.  I think that the chapters on anxiety and depression will prove especially helpful for writers. Working professionals and artists overall, including writers, notoriously have issues struggling with depression and anxiety. Mastering Cognitive Behavioral Therapy helps to identify the reason(s) for these problems and gives step-by-step instructions on how to restructure this thinking which are still flexible enough to personalize for the individual’s situation. Better yet, Garron addresses different kinds of anxiety when so many people forget that it is not a one-size-fits-all sort of mental illness.

As someone who has suffered from depression, anxiety, and anger issues, Mastering Cognitive Behavioral Therapy proved to be a particularly interesting book for me. My bouts of depression can be crippling and my anxiety prevents me from fully functioning on a daily basis; my anger issues, while embarrassing, are easier for me to handle and don’t interfere quite as much with my life. Before this book, I had never really heard of cognitive psychology or cognitive behavioral therapy. However, after reading about it in Garron’s work, I think that cognitive behavioral therapy might able to supplement the control I’ve gained through anti-depressants and anti-anxiety medication.

That brings me to a point which almost immediately annoyed me in this book: it cast these sorts of medication in an incredibly negative light. The points that Garron makes about medication are valid; after all, it does mess with the chemistry of the brain, which is why they can help people with these conditions. Nevertheless, Garron highlights more of what’s wrong with these medicines than what is right with them. In the rest of the book, he does so well to emphasize that results may vary and that everyone needs to personalize the cognitive behavioral therapy to work best for them, but I feel that that attitude is absent when he discusses anti-depressants and similar medication. In fact, his bias against them, while not violent or shame-inducing, seems pretty clear when I read this book. I just wish that he had provided a more balanced view of medications as he does with everything else.

Overall, Mastering Cognitive Behavioral Therapy by Michael Garron is a very helpful guide for those looking into therapeutic ways to address their emotional and mental health problems. Garron tries and covers all of the major mental illnesses and emotional control issues as well as a variety of ways to deal with them using cognitive behavioral therapy. Be cautioned, though: Garron emphasizes, time and time again, that this approach requires a lot of effort on your part and will require investigating emotions and memories that you don’t necessarily want to relive. You also cannot do this alone. You must include a fair third party—a friend, family member, therapist, etc.—to get a full view of your actions and any connections you may not have been able to make on your own. This process is not a passive approach to your problems, and this book is not a passive read; in order to get the full benefits from it, you must give it an honest effort. Also, don’t assume that it will work for you or work overnight; it will take time and, in the end, it might not be for you and/or you will need additional professional help.

You can buy Mastering Cognitive Behavioral Therapy by Michael Garron on Amazon.

Do you know of any books I should read? E-mail me at thewritersscrapbin@gmail.com and let me know!

 

Happy Thursday, readers and writers! My apologies for the long absence. The good news is that I’m being kept busy with plenty of work; the bad news is that I’m being kept busy with plenty of work. Fortunately, I’ve still been able to set aside some time for reading, and today I have a new book to review for you: Adam Brown’s Napoleon Bonaparte: The Biography of a Leader Who Changed the History of France (Including the French Revolution).

As the title suggests, Napoleon Bonaparte details the life and death of the French emperor and military savant Napoleon Bonaparte. Brown follows Napoleon from his early years in Corsica and rise through the ranks of the French military to his exile and death. In his in-depth examination, Brown explores Napoleon’s less-than-glamorous upbringing and early failures as well as his shining victories and infamous decline. No stone is left unturned, no secret kept buried.

Napoleon Bonaparte provides a thorough, comprehensive account of a political figure who has been both revered and despised. As a history fanatic, I was excited to start this book and learn more about Napoleon. In that respect, this book did not disappoint. Like most people, I knew very little about Napoleon’s personal life before Brown’s work. I only had a rough idea about his contributions to the French Revolution and his controversial time as the Emperor of France. This book taught me about Napoleon’s childhood, his relationship with his parents, his difficulties as a poor academic at a nobleman’s military school, and how he came to know his first wife, Josephine. I was fascinated, to say the least.

I especially enjoyed how Brown covered Napoleon’s death. There is much debate over this event, mostly whether Napoleon was poisoned. In most history books, readers only get one perspective on the matter. In Napoleon Bonaparte, Brown presents all the possible theories. He explores each argument, the good points and the flaws, and states the most logical possibility while allowing readers to come to their own conclusions.

For the majority of the book, Brown’s writing style helped to keep my attention and made the book go by fairly quickly for a purely historical/biographical tome. He utilizes an informal, conversational tone rather than the dry, formal tone which is common to academic and historical pieces. It felt as though I were talking to one of my favorite history teachers about one of their favorite time periods. Brown is clearly excited about the subject of Napoleon, his effects on the world, and the French Revolution, and this excitement translates into an energetic read.

However, this energy did sometimes lead to rambling, particularly in the accounts of the parts of the French Revolution in which Napoleon was not directly involved. Mind you, everything which Brown covers in the book is important for understanding how Napoleon rose to the top and why he was motivated to do so. Nevertheless, I felt that too much time was spent on such things as encounters between the First Coalition and the French Republic before Napoleon enters the scene. In about the first quarter of the book, parts of the French Revolution without Napoleon take up so much space that I sometimes forgot that I was reading a book about Napoleon specifically rather than the history of the French Revolution overall.

I was also rather disappointed that the author did not provide a bibliography of his resources at the end of the book. I’m a stickler for facts and double-checking sources, not to mention I just have a never-ending thirst for knowledge. That’s why, when I read historical books, I love being able to follow the information back to the original source if I can. Of course, some sources the ordinary reader simply has no access to, such as primary sources like letters and even some secondary sources like older books. Regardless, I would still like to know that I could check into the source if I wanted to.

All in all, Napoleon Bonaparte by Adam Brown is a must-read for history lovers, especially if you’re fond of French history, historical leaders, and/or the French Revolution. While I wish that the book had listed its sources and been more focused, it is an interesting read and taught me a lot.

You can buy Napoleon Bonaparte by Adam Brown as an eBook or in paperback on Amazon.

Do you know of a book I should read? E-mail me at thewritersscrapbin@gmail.com and let me know!

 

Happy Sunday, everyone! Ready for another Manic Monday tomorrow? Me neither. Who really wants to deal with the start of a new week? The stress, the anxiety, the insanity, it’s all but impossible to handle our own emotions, let alone deal with anyone else’s. And yet that’s exactly what we must do, day in and day out, if we want to be successful in our work lives, social lives, and personal lives. It’s this sort of mania which has led me to bring you a book especially on dealing with emotions today: Emotional Intelligence: The Complete Guide to Improving Thoughts, Behavior, Relationships and Social Skills (The EQ Book) by Michael Garron.

Emotional Intelligence discusses just about everything one can think of in regards to emotional intelligence: the advantages and abilities a high EQ (Emotional Quotient) can give you; how you can develop your EQ; managing self-awareness and relationships; reading body language; collaboration and conflict management; building trust and accountability; the pitfalls of low EQ; and so on. This book provides you with all the information necessary for understanding what EQ is and what it can do for you as well as tips for improving your EQ and what you should avoid in order to keep your EQ sharp. At 318 pages, it’s a thorough and complete guide to the issue of interacting with your emotions and the emotions of others.

This book covers a wide variety of topics. In addition to the information mentioned above, it also discusses meditation, mindfulness, journaling, the issues of multitasking and how to avoid them, and examples to go along with each concept. In fact, I think that Garron could have easily grouped some of the chapters together and expanded upon them to make multiple books rather than one long guide. That may have made for an easier read, too, and people wouldn’t be so intimidated by a nonfiction guide over 300 pages long.

Still, the thoroughness of Garron’s writing and research is one of the biggest strengths of this book. Unfortunately, it’s also one of its biggest downfalls. Garron often uses a lot of words to describe very simple concepts. Garron also becomes repetitive at points, and this combined with the verbose writing style lost me many times. However, the information is useful enough that I pushed through any confusion or boredom to get it all, even re-reading multiple sentences to ensure that I understood it all.

The examples Garron provides really helped me understand most of the concepts better. I particularly latched onto the example given for the “attachment” concept, most likely because I saw myself in it. (I have a bit of a hoarding issue…she says as though it’s only a small problem.) Everyone will find at least one example they can relate to in this book, and so I’m sure that everyone can mine some nuggets of wisdom from Garron’s advice.

Writers will find Emotional Intelligence to be a surprisingly useful guide, at least the part on non-verbal cues and reading body language. That section discusses such things as physical signs that people are experiencing a particular emotion, i.e. happiness, sadness, anger, anxiety, etc. These lists of signs, I think, are handy guides for writers who have a hard time being able to show a character’s emotions rather than telling them. Some of them are obvious—I found the happiness signs to be rather self-explanatory—but they are still good to refer to when you find yourself using the same sorts of gestures and body language for an emotion time after time.

Overall, Emotional Intelligence by Michael Garron is a helpful read for those looking to become more empathetic and gain better control of their emotions. For those of us with more extreme emotional issues—for instance, I have Generalized Anxiety Disorder—it might be more difficult to apply the book’s advice in real time, but practicing the techniques outside of real-life situations might make these situations easier to handle when they do occur. Keep in mind that this guide is not a light read and it necessitates more than one reading, both to ensure you understand it fully and to continue to grow your EQ as you get older. However, it will be worth the extra time in the end once you see all your relationships—work, social, and with yourself—and your life in general improve.

You can buy Emotional Intelligence by Michael Garron as an e-book or in print on Amazon.

Do you know of any books I should read? E-mail me at thewritersscrapbin@gmail.com and let me know!

 

Warning: The subject of today’s review, Invisible Me by H.M. Irwing, contains sex scenes, sexual situations, and foul language. If you are under the age of 18 or do not wish to encounter such content, proceed with caution.

Happy Friday, everyone! After starting last weekend on a PSA about suicide prevention, I think it’d be best to usher in this weekend on a much lighter note. What better way to do that than to post a new book review? Today’s review will be on the supernatural romance novel—or perhaps it’s more accurately called sci-fi romance—Invisible Me by H.M. Irwing, an author whom I have reviewed multiple times on this blog.

Freddie Lynch, known to many as “Fatty Leech,” has struggled with weight issues for a long time. She’s unused to any attention from boys (or men), and her best—and only—friend is the equally-ostracized Kyle Lykin. Yet there’s only one boy whose attention she really wants: Edwin Carr, Kyle’s “hotter-than-hot” cousin. The problem is that he never seems to give her the time of day, not to mention he’s engaged. In one last desperate attempt to change Edwin’s mind, Freddie makes herself a diet shake, the first step to trying to lose weight quickly. Too late she realizes that she has accidentally mixed her shake with the newest concoction brought home by her father—a chemist—from work. Now, instead of just being invisible to the opposite sex, she’s invisible to everyone. Literally.

After a year of trying one potential cure after another, Freddie has all but given up on ever being seen again, but that won’t stop her from enjoying her eighteenth birthday. She is now legally an adult and can enjoy all the freedom that comes with that status. Or can she? How can she go out in the world when there’s nothing more to her than floating clothes? How can she live a real, normal life outside of the Internet? The answer to her dilemma may just be a day away…but with new opportunities come new obstacles, and love always finds a way to complicate things further.

As a fan of speculative fiction in general, this concept caught my interest immediately and kept me invested in the book until the very end. I’d best describe it as a mix of a coming-of-age story, a romance novel, and The Invisible Man. Many themes could be read into Irwing’s use of invisibility in this story—a young adult establishing their identity, the ugly duckling theme, the soul-sucking anonymity of social media—but I cannot go into any of these without giving away too much of the plot. However, I can say that the obvious lesson that diet shakes are not the way to miraculous (or healthy) weight loss both amuses me and hits especially close to home for me.

With a woman rather than a man becoming invisible, even more humor and risqué moves are available to the protagonist, and Irwing does not disappoint. From Freddie marching around in her birthday suit to the banter exchanged between her and Kyle, this book proved to be very funny at times. Of course, that doesn’t mean it’s just some parody or satire; the angst, the grief, the regret, and the love which define both Freddie’s and Edwin’s lives balance the narrative’s tone out nicely.

Edwin, Freddie, Kyle, and even Freddie’s father all prove to be very interesting characters. From a literary perspective, they somewhat play a mix of different stereotypes: Edwin, the borderline-insane and grieving man and unbelievably handsome hunk; Freddie, the sassy but still self-conscious chubby girl; Kyle, the awkward, not-to-hot best friend; and Freddie’s father, the grieving workaholic. Still, they each develop into more three-dimensional characters than I had expected, particularly through their relationships. While the story focuses on Edwin and Freddie’s relationship, I actually grew more intrigued by Freddie’s relationships with Kyle and her father. Their dynamics are real and fun and serve as a good break from the sweet-but-tumultuous romantic interactions between Freddie and Edwin.

Unfortunately, the writing in this book could use a lot of work or at least a lot of editing. I noticed missing commas, missing or misused capitalization, missing words, and some brief moments in which the narration switched between first person and third person. The concept kept me interested in the story, but these errors did serve as a distraction. Still, these mistakes are easily fixed with another round of edits, so this issue might be resolved in future editions.

Overall, Invisible Me by H.M. Irwing is a fun, light read. There are some sexual scenes and certainly sexual tension, so younger readers probably shouldn’t read it, but adult readers who like romance novels will want to check this book out. The writing should be further edited, but otherwise it is a good break from heavier reads which will make you laugh while you also share in Freddie’s struggles. Once you start, you won’t want to finish until you find out what in the world has happened to Freddie Lynch and how in the world it could be undone.

You can buy Invisible Me by H.M. Irwing on Amazon. Also be sure to check out the author’s website for information on this and Irwing’s other works.

Do you know of a book I should read? E-mail me at thewritersscrapbin@gmail.com and let me know!