Category: Book Reviews

Trigger Warning: The book reviewed in this post, 69 Shades of Nashville by Nicole Kelly, M.D., contains depictions of sex and sexual situations, including BDSM and rape. This book also discusses teen pregnancy, adultery, and murder. If you are triggered by such depictions or otherwise wish to avoid them, proceed with caution.

Warning: Due to the sexual nature of Nicole Kelly’s book, do not proceed if you are under 18 years of age. Also remember to keep any discussion which results from this review polite and mature. We are all adults and so should treat this subject like adults. Any bullying, trolling, or inappropriate remarks will result in the participating parties being reprimanded. Please refer to the Comments and Privacy Policy for further information.

Happy Humpday! (Pun intended.) Today I want to bring you a book very reminiscent of the first small-print book I reviewed on here, Blackmail, yet also very different from it as well. The book at the heart of this review is 69 Shades of Nashville: Sociopathic Sex Southern Style by Nicole Kelly, M.D.

Nashville Kitty is a sociopath. This isn’t a judgment against the character—she truly is a self-proclaimed sociopath. She knows what she wants and won’t let neurotypical empathy or morals get in her way. And what does this sociopath wants? Sex, and tons of it! But she doesn’t want just some random hookups; she’s looking to build a metaphorical stable of experienced married adulterers to keep her needs satisfied. Then she finds the perfect place to start her collection: Aubrey Madeline, a site specifically for cheaters to meet other cheaters.

Can the cheating world handle a sociopath the likes of Nashville Kitty? Can even a world-class sociopathic liar be able to keep up the charade for long? And when Nashville Kitty gets mixed up with the wrong kinds of cheaters, will everyone survive?

Just like Blackmail, Kelly’s book is a guilty pleasure for me. This book is exciting and surprisingly well-written. While it is certainly an erotic novel, it is also much more than that; it’s psychological and emotional (despite the sociopathic narrator) with a splash of mystery and crime thriller thrown into the mix. Nashville Kitty is also intelligent and saphiosexual, or attracted to intelligence, which makes this book great for readers who want something smarter than just the typical mindless erotica.

Kelly remains faithful to the narrator’s voice throughout the entire work. More importantly, she makes the voice sound genuine and I could actually relate to Nashville Kitty in some ways. (Not the lack of empathy; I wish I cared less about other people’s feelings.) This is quite the feat, I must say. It’s not easy for neurotypicals—as Nashville Kitty calls people who aren’t sociopaths or psychopaths—to step into the mind of a sociopath, so to make someone like me relate to and feel for a character like Nashville Kitty indicates excellent writing.

Nashville Kitty’s hyper-focus on her sociopathy got a bit tedious after the first couple chapters. Of course, if she hadn’t been so focused on it and other aspects of herself, I wouldn’t have believed that she was as much of a sociopath as she claimed she was (I would’ve just thought she was a bitch). I guess, with that in mind, you have to take the bad with the good.

My favorite character is a tie between Nashville Kitty and ChainReaction. It’s hard to tell what the truth is for either of them, even when Nashville Kitty is transparent about her motives, and that kept my attention the entire narrative. I would add Hubby to make it a three-way tie but, honestly, he lost me when he became suddenly very religious. I don’t have anything against religion, but seeing his transformation through Nashville Kitty’s eyes made the whole thing seem cheesy.

As exciting and hilarious as the rest of the book is, I feel that the final chapter is a little lackluster. I can’t discuss it in too much detail due to spoilers, but the final chapter felt rushed. It reflects Nashville Kitty’s paranoia and fast-moving mind, but I felt that so much more could have been done with this chapter and that it could have easily been stretched into another chapter or two. The “twists” were predictable to me, but I can’t hold that against the book; I think they’re very amusing additions to the book and, in Kelly’s defense, I often spot these patterns much more easily than the average reader. If the last chapter had been a little longer, I think that the twists would have had a much more powerful impact.

Overall, I highly recommend 69 Shades of Nashville by Nicole Kelly, M.D., for readers who like humor and excitement and don’t mind raunchy scenes. The character personalities are varied and well-developed, and the plot is sophisticated, especially for an erotica novel. The pacing at the end of the novel could use some work, but the rest of the novel moves at an appropriate pace for the humor and the narrator’s characterization. At 404 pages, this book appears lengthy. Regardless, the pacing of the narration and the illustrations make it a much quicker read than the page count implies. The illustrations are beautiful and tasteful, always matching that part of the story even when it’s one of the “steamier” sections. Kelly has left the ending open for future books, but the conclusion still allows 69 Shades of Nashville to stand on its own.

If you don’t like sex in novels, this book is NOT for you. If you don’t mind such sections, I suggest you give Kelly’s work a try.

You can buy 69 Shades of Nashville as an eBook or in print on Amazon and for free on Audible. For a limited time only, you can also get the book for free on Kelly’s website. To learn more about the book and Kelly, you can check out Kelly’s Facebook page and the Goodreads page for 69 Shades of Nashville.

Do you know of a book I should read? Want your work reviewed on this blog? E-mail me at thewritersscrapbin@gmail.com or message me on Fiverr and we can arrange something.

 

As you probably know, this blog is more than just a fun place to blow off steam and knowledge; it’s an intricate part of my freelancing. I get jobs through this blog, this blog is central to some of my Fiverr gigs, and it’s where I show off my expertise. The social media outlets related to The Writer’s Scrap Bin, including the Facebook and Twitter accounts, are as much for connecting with potential clients as they are for connecting with my fellow writers and readers. That’s why I think it’s a good idea to bring you a business-related book review today, namely my review of a book called Social Media Marketing: Step by Step Instructions for Advertising Your Business on Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, LinkedIn, and Various Other Platforms by Noah Gray and Michael Fox.

Social media has grown rapidly since the launch of platforms like Facebook and MySpace. Is it too much growth too quickly? That’s for future generations to decide. In the meantime, our world is becoming increasingly dependent on social media for everything from reconnecting with old friends to looking for a job. That’s why businesses have to ride this wave while it lasts. The more exposure a business gets, the more people shop that business’s products and services. What better path to exposure than social media? People are on those sites 24/7 anyway. Why not take advantage of the captive audience? That is exactly what Gray and Fox discuss in Social Media Marketing.

Gray and Fox more than just detail the benefits of social media marketing; they give readers all the tools they need for launching a social media marketing campaign for as little money as possible (often even for free). They tell readers about some of the most prominent social media platforms out there (Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, Snapchat, LinkedIn, Google+, Reddit, Tumblr, Quora, Periscope, Goodreads, and Flickr) and explain which platform is best for which kind of marketing. They explain the ins and outs of each platforms, as well as what you shouldn’t do in order to avoid getting into trouble.

This book is all about personalizing your approach. Gray and Fox emphasize that social media is constantly evolving, and so platforms will come, go, and change over time. What works in today’s social media might not work in ten years or even in one year. They also stress the fact that you have to decide for yourself which platform(s) is right for your business and how many platforms you can reasonably handle in a single campaign. (Don’t want to burn the candle at both ends, after all!) Regardless, this book provides a general guide which both the novice and experienced social media marketer can use to start their next campaign.

Gray and Fox’s book is yet another I wish I had found a little sooner. The tips for Facebook paid advertising and utilizing Twitter in a social media campaign would have saved me some trial-and-error and uncertainty. Even the Instagram and Pinterest sections should prove useful as I try and expand my blog’s reach.

I personally most benefited from the sections on social media platforms with which I’m not very familiar. Despite all the time I spend online, there are many social media platforms which I’m just becoming aware of. Among these are Quora, Periscope, Flickr, and even Reddit. Fortunately, Gray and Fox provide detailed chapters on all of them. They explain these platforms in ways which made a lot more sense than when I look them up on Google or Wikipedia. The simple language used in this book also helped me to understand how each platform works and which ones will work for my freelance writing and editing work. (Honestly, I think only Quora and Reddit are a good fit for me out of those four.)

However, with all the platforms that Gray and Fox introduced me to, there were just as many that I already knew about. For this reason, the Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube chapters felt rather…repetitive and slow to me. That’s no fault of the writing. Anyone who isn’t already familiar with these platforms and their possibilities for marketing will find these chapters key to starting a social media marketing campaign. After all, these are three of the biggest social media platforms in existence right now. I had just recently familiarized myself with the marketing potentials of these platforms and thus already knew most of the information.

Perhaps the most useful set of chapters for writers is the set on Goodreads. This section teaches readers the basics of Goodreads, how to use it with a blog, and how to best use it for marketing your book. I’m sure that most of my readers are comfortable with Goodreads already. Regardless, I think that these chapters could help writers learn to utilize this platform’s potential even better.

Overall, I highly recommend this book for people looking to launch a social media marketing campaign. Gray and Fox’s Social Media Marketing is well-organized, informative, and written perfectly for a beginning marketer. You don’t even have to spend any money to jump on these tips! Many of them just involve having an active and strategic social media account in order to work.

Whether you’re a business owner, freelancer, or even a writer, you need to bring your products/services/books into the realm of social media. Like it or not, there will be one form of social media or another for quite some time. You have to strike the iron while it’s hot, or else you—and your business—will be left behind.

You can buy Social Media Marketing by Noah Gray and Michael Fox as an eBook or in print on Amazon.

Do you know of any books I should read? Want your work reviewed on this blog? E-mail me at thewritersscrapbin@gmail.com or message me on Fiverr and we can arrange something.

 

Warning: The book featured in this review, The Most Dangerous Dream by Kelsey Brickl, contains depictions of sex, sexual situations, and other sensitive matters. If you wish to avoid such depictions or are under the age of 18, proceed with caution.

Another hectic week is underway, and I’m here to bring you another book which I’m particularly excited about. The first reason is that it’s a retelling of a well-known work. (I am rather find of using things like fairy tales to jump-start my own stories.) The other reason is that it is very well-written, titillating yet also classy. Today I will be reviewing The Most Dangerous Dream by Kelsey Brickl.

History is full of what if’s. What if Alexander the Great had not died young? What if Henry VIII had not divorced Catherine of Aragon? What if the United States had not successfully built the atomic bomb? Even fiction from bygone eras contain unexplored avenues, and it is such an avenue which Brickl postulates in her reimagining of The Phantom of the Opera.

What if Christine had not been repulsed by the deformed Erik? What if she actually decided to get to know him and, through this bonding, falls in love with the man who has been her secret singing coach for all these years?

When Brickl explores this possibility, what we get is not a deranged, deformed man holding people hostage for the love of a woman who will never love him back. Instead, Brickl shows readers the softer side of the Phantom, the human side which is loving, jealous, possessive, and passionate. More than that, she reveals a new side to Christine, one which is sexual, untamed, and, at times, lacking in good judgment and care for female virtues. Their story is both heartwarming and heartbreaking, sensual and thrilling, a love story which at times does not seem meant to be, only to have our expectations subverted. Will love prevail? Or will Erik’s–the Phantom’s–possessive, manipulative, and secretive nature get between them enough for Christine’s childhood friend Raoul to swoop in?

I hate to admit it, but I’ve never read The Phantom of the Opera. I’ve never seen the Broadway play, and I’ve only seen snippets of one of the later movies. Still, we all know the gist of the story, and I believe that Brickl’s The Most Dangerous Dream did it justice. In fact, I may not be able to watch or read anything related to the original in the same light as I would have without reading this first.

Brickl turns a classic story about a deformed and desperate maniac into a man in love who has been dealt a bad hand in life, including a physical deformity. It’s a struggle to find and keep love in the face of nonconformity in a time when normality was key to thriving in the social world. There’s tension and emotional upheaval to spare, and no character is either entirely likeable or entirely despicable. Even Erik and Christine, as the star-crossed lovers in this tale, have plenty of flaws and strengths, moments when you want them together and moments when they seem better off going their separate ways.

I can’t really say that any character was my favorite for this very reason. Erik was too jealous, possessive, and manipulative, sometimes downright creepy. Yet he is also sweet, caring, protective, passionate, and a gentleman. Christine is beautiful, kind, talented, and a little stubborn. Still, she’s also rather impulsive and naïve. It was hard not to find fault in their actions and question the validity of their relationship, but that just made it feel all the more real.

Of course, the time period and country in which the book takes place makes for a more challenging read than modern romances. The speech pattern is somewhat antiquated and there are references to many foods, operas, and aspects of Parisian high society which not every reader will immediately recognize. However, these are the same sorts of issues often encountered in historical fiction, and they’re nothing that an enthralled reader cannot overcome.

I anticipate readers having a problem with the premise for this novel. For one thing, it’s a reimagining. Those are always received critically in the literary and entertainment worlds. More importantly, though, is the fact that the relationship between Erik and Christine borders on emotionally abusive. After all, Erik follows her in the shadows and manipulates everything around her to make things how he wants them to be. It is also creepy that he has been watching her since before she became a woman, which indicates that he has been essentially stalking her since childhood and he is much older than she is.

These concerns and more are addressed in the forms of Meg, Christine’s internal struggles, and even Erik’s internal struggles. I would not stand by if I was these red flags in a friend’s romance or my own, but Erik only wants what is best for Christine; his methods are questionable but he learns from mistakes, as we all do. While this story does not depict the ideal relationship, it depicts a realistic ones with ups, downs, happiness, and regrets, and its romantic arc is very much in line with this genre and the time period, albeit a little more sweetly and happily than the original.

I found a few typos, such as “robe” when Brickl meant “rope,” but they were not so prominent or frequent as to ruin the novel. I was surprised by how well Brickl maintained the feel of the time period while not losing my attention. Even at 400+ pages, the book is so gripping and compelling that it makes for a quicker read than you would think. A word of warning: some of this illusion of speed is due to steamy scenes between Christine and Erik. If you’re turned on by intellectual and/or artistic activities and people, you’ll especially appreciate those scenes.

Overall, The Most Dangerous Dream is an exciting and intellectual read. It is truly for romantic (in the traditional sense of the term). If you are a huge fan of The Phantom of the Opera, you might have mixed feelings about Brickl’s reimagining. However, if you want a new perspective on the infamous Phantom, you will love it. Brickl is a wonderful writer, and I can’t wait to see what she comes out with next. If she does more in this genre (historical romance and reimaginings), I’m sure it will be a hit like this one.

It’s currently unavailable, but you will be able to snag a copy of The Most Dangerous Dream by Kelsey Brickl on Amazon.

Do you know of any books I should read? Want your work reviewed on this blog? E-mail me at thewritersscrapbin@gmail.com or message me on Fiverr and we can arrange something.

 

I have another book to bring to you today, this time a short collection of poetry and prose called Woke Up on the Wrong Side of the Universe: A Collection of Poetry & Prose by Nick F. Hawkins. If you’re looking for writing which is transcendental and abstract, this work might be for you.

Woke Up on the Wrong Side of the Universe begins with an introduction from Hawkins himself, explaining how we have gone almost as far as we can as humans but not as parts of a much more expansive universe. He describes how we do not—perhaps even cannot—see and hear everything in the universe but must still try, as well as his own efforts to see and hear beyond what he can detect with his senses. From there Hawkins takes the reader on an emotional journey of poetry, both traditional and nontraditional, and ends it with a fascinating short story and another note from the author.

Hawkins’s collection packs a powerful punch for only being 86 pages. I think much of this is due to the fact that each poem is quite literally two poems in one. Through the use of red highlights, Hawkins hides the words for a second poem within the lines of the first; it’s up to the reader to figure out how to put them together.

I found this element of the poetry to be very refreshing. Many poems-within-poems, when they are published, do not so obviously indicate how to string together a second poem. The red lettering here presents a reasonable challenge for the modern reader: not so difficult to spot that readers will either blow past it or give up yet not so easy as to bore them.

Better still, Hawkins’s poems-within-poems adds extra layers to the original poems. Sometimes they enhance the meaning, and sometimes they contradict it. The fun is in trying to piece together the second poem and decipher how it connects to the original poem.

If you like a mix of rhyming and un-rhyming poetry, you’ll like this collection. Not everything rhymes, a fact which I’m personally grateful for. However, some lines rhyme and many of those do not come off as cheesy. One such example is the poem “Soothing Night Skies”:

 

I desire the soothing night skies,

The stars intrigue my mind

Like beautiful submissive eyes,

A gaze that’s only

Tarnished by the sun rise,

Cosmic frequency arise

Making me feel more alive,

I decide my vibe

To feel the beauty of life,

Avoiding patronizing parasites

That cultivates a futile demise,

I’m honored by the night skies,

An endless space and time

Defined by intricate signs

 

Still, my favorite poem from this collection is actually “Our Love Was a Typo”. I especially found the last four lines touching and beautiful:

 

If only our love story

Was written with a typewriter,

Maybe the ending would have

Turned out to be joyful

 

Considering I’m a writer, I typically enjoy any reference to writing within writing, so this poem and its message about lost love really captured my attention.

The collection isn’t perfect, though. I can usually brush off what I perceive to be typos or grammatical errors in poetry because of the very nature of this art. However, there were moments in which the wrong word was used (“compliment” for “complement”) and the singular form of a verb was used when the plural version was needed, even for the poem-within-the-poem. While most of the illustrations were simplistically elegant and fit the poems, but some seemed random to me. Perhaps I’ll see the reason in a future reading, but as of right now, I don’t see the purpose for all of them.

I also think that the short story is the collection’s weakest link. I felt compelled to read it because of the premise, and I think that alternate world Hawkins built is worth pursuing. The theme also fits with the introduction and the poems. Regardless, I don’t think that he develops the story well enough. I felt ripped off by the end of the story, as though someone had dangled a Twinkie in my face but only gave me the exterior without the cream. Very short surrealist stories can be very effective. In this case, I think Hawkins needs more space to achieve his goal for the story.

Overall, Woke Up on the Wrong Side of the Universe is an enjoyable and spiritual read. I can connect with the messages of Hawkins’s poems, and I think that anyone could benefit from them. I also think that more proofreading is in order, especially in the short story. While it fits thematically, the short story might do better to be expanded and then released on its own. A mix of poetry and prose can be interesting, but in this case I think that the story distracts readers from the wonderful poems.

You can get a Kindle copy of Woke Up on the Wrong Side of the Universe by Nick F. Hawkins on Amazon. Also be sure to check the author out on Instagram, Twitter, and his website.

Do you know of any books I should read? Want your work reviewed on this blog? E-mail me at thewritersscrapbin@gmail.com or message me on Fiverr and we can arrange something.

 

If you’re an Internet enthusiast, you’ve almost certainly heard of Bitcoin. You’ve probably also heard of the rise—and now progressive fall—of that cryptocurrency. But what’s all the hullabaloo about? Frankly, I barely have a clue. That’s why, in an attempt to keep up with this technological and financial trend, I’ve read Cryptocurrency 2^nd Edition: Mining, Investing, and Trading Bitcoin Ethereum, Litecoin, Ripple, Dash, Gridcoin, Iota, Digibyte, Dogecoin, Emercoin, Putincoin, Auroracoin and Others by Abraham K. White.

For those who aren’t techno-savvy, Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies seem as foreign as Old English manuscripts. In Cryptocurrency, White tries to simplify the concept and the process of obtaining cryptocurrency. White covers everything from the mining of Bitcoin (the original cryptocurrency) to the pros and cons of alternative cryptocurrencies such as Ethereum and Litecoin. He also explains the politico-cultural and financial controversies tied to each of kind of cryptocurrency and how the entire concept could revolution the world’s economy. White provides virtually everything you need to know in order to invest in the cryptocurrency trend, the only problem being that even a simplified description is still very complicated.

I have to start this review by noting that I’m not a computer nerd, not the kind with the mind to create and add onto blockchains. I got this book in the hopes of strengthening my understanding of Bitcoin and how I might profit from it, so I was looking for something which could explain the basic concepts to me as well as Bitcoin’s ebbs and flows.

This book provides all of this information and more. White explains Bitcoin and several other forms of cryptocurrency and provides a glossary. However, it is not a light read. I had to re-read multiple sections, and I highly recommend giving the book more than just one read in order to fully understand it.

White’s writing is not at fault. It’s smooth and uses as simple and straightforward a vocabulary as you can with this topic. Nevertheless, unless you already have a basic knowledge of the technology behind cryptocurrency, you’ll want to take your time digesting the material before making any judgments or decisions.

White could have helped the reader’s understanding more with a better book structure. It was a good idea to frame the chapters on the different cryptocurrencies rather than starting or ending the book with them. Regardless, I don’t think that White should have saved the chapter on blockchains for the finale. I was incredibly confused by the concept earlier in the book and would have appreciated this chapter sooner. This chapter also causes the book to end rather abruptly, going from a concluding note on blockchains and their pros/cons straight to the glossary. I’m glad for the chapter, I just wanted it before White explained the different cryptocurrency platforms and wish that he had ended on a general conclusion about cryptocurrency and its future.

Cryptocurrency opened my eyes to a world I didn’t even know existed. I knew of Bitcoin, but I had no idea that cryptocurrency was so prominent. White takes readers through the history of virtual money as well as the technical details of each kind, including how Bitcoin emerged in the first place. He illustrates the issues that different governments have with cryptocurrency, all of which are valid, but also shows readers how virtual money can benefit individuals and the world as a whole. He mostly emphasizes the decentralized nature of virtual money such as Bitcoin, but I still have many questions as to how exactly the peer-to-peer transaction system works.

All in all, Cryptocurrency by Abraham K. White is a great tool for learning about this phenomenon. It takes some time and brainpower to read, as does most technological topics, but the possibilities will capture the imagination of anyone with a shred of interest in finances and technology. If the discussions in this book are any real indicator, the current dip in the value of cryptocurrency is only temporary and you should get in on it while it’s still affordable. You shouldn’t jump right into Bitcoin. Rather, check out this book and see which of the cryptocurrency platforms is right for you. Despite the current devaluation, cryptocurrency seems to be here to stay and we should probably get to know it better.

You can buy Cryptocurrency by Abraham K. White as an e-book and in print through Amazon.

Do you know of any books I should read? Want your work reviewed on this blog? E-mail me at thewritersscrapbin@gmail.com or message me on Fiverr and we can arrange something.

 

Trigger Warning: The book in today’s review, ode to poet by Annika Andersson, contains a poem which briefly mentions suicide. There are also portrayals of political/social views which some may find controversial. If you are triggered by such discussions or otherwise wish to avoid these topics, proceed with caution.

I want to follow up my discussion of prose and poetry with a review of another modern poetry collection. This collection is called ode to poet by Annika Andersson.

In its brief 36 pages, Annika Andersson’s ode to poet represents a wide variety of poetry topics and styles. Some of the themes discussed include the life of a poet, faults in communication, the horrid condition of humanity as portrayed on the news, and suicide. Each poem is bite-sized, creating a collection which is perfect for the busy reader looking for something to read in between shifts or while chauffeuring their children.

Andersson is definitely a modern poet. For most of the collection, her work does not follow any prescribed form or rhyming pattern. Even punctuation is irregular throughout the book, sporadic at best but always with a purpose. Andersson, much like T.A. Price, has an ear of her own and relies on it to craft her poems. Yet these poems provide a much different perspective from Price’s work, covering themes more common to city-dwellers and boasting a more “urban” voice and feel.

I think my favorite lines in this book come from “Savannah”:

 

and when I can find the time, I can’t

find the energy

 

Energy seems to be a rare commodity these days.

 

I straighten away from the mirror and

pull my hair

out of the top knot

in which it seems to permanently reside.

I have too much hair. I should really cut it.

I’ve been saying that for months.

 

Not only do I find these lines to be beautiful as poetry, I also connect with them on a personal level. I suffer from depression and, while it is mostly under control at the moment, I still have many days when energy and the will to care escape me. I believe that Andersson has captured these struggles perfectly in “Savannah”.

However, my favorite section in the collection is the second section, titled “Poetic Styles Through Time”. Andersson really flexes her writing muscles here, taking on eight different poetic movements from the late 18^th to late 20^th centuries. Better yet, she puts her own stamp on these styles and gives them modern twists.

My favorite poem from this section, from the book in general, is the one dedicated to the Harlem Renaissance style, titled “10 O’clock News”:

 

I turn on the television

Screen fills up with black and white

Static noise from indecision

Channels flash with colored light

 

–we bring news of yet another

Trayvon Martin been attacked–

Hoping praying not a brother

Son or father: family cracked

 

They deny that it’s a pattern

Claim there’s no repeat offense

But then why so many battered

But then why are we so tense

 

I turn on the television

For a transient escape

Instead greeted with a vision

Yet some more bright yellow tape.

 

In addition to the powerful message (which I know not everyone will agree with), I found the rhythm and structure of this poem particularly natural, like music, in a way. I suppose that that embodies the Harlem Renaissance, which is exactly what Andersson set out to do with this poem. I think, even more so than the other poems in this section, “10 O’clock News” best represents the era of poetic style which it is meant to imitate, and I would love for her to explore more work in this style.

All in all, I think that Annika Andersson’s ode to poet is a wonderful collection. It’s different from T.A. Price’s Bent, but the change is refreshing; I really enjoy reading a wide variety of poems about a wide variety of themes in a wide variety of styles, so going from Bent to ode to poet gave me that range of voices I’m always looking for in poetry.

As with most poetry, this book contains some debatable messages, which is fine. In fact, I think that’s preferable for any work but especially poetry. After all, the purpose of writing is to get us thinking and talking, and what gets us fired up more than topics which we passionately agree or disagree with?

You can order ode to poet in paperback through Amazon.

Do you know of any books I should read? Want your work reviewed on this blog? E-mail me at thewritersscrapbin@gmail.com or message me on Fiverr and we can arrange something.

 

Well, we’re nearing the end of another week, readers and writers. Today was my last day working for MeowShare (unless they decide to reinstate the English Special Force Team). Needless to say, I’m bummed. They said it was just a trial run but when you spend so many weeks with the same people, you grow attached, and I’m sad that I may never work with them again. The money didn’t hurt, either.

Life goes on, right? Change is inevitable; you just have to keep moving forward. That’s why I’m here, bringing you another book review. This book is a guide for purposeful change, i.e. weight loss and improving your health. Today I will be reviewing Flipping Your Fat Loss Switch: Trigger Your Paleolithic Genes to Burn Fat by John Griffin.

It’s a common story in the modern world: you decide to change your ways and lose that extra body fat, so you start to exercise and eat healthier. You’ve probably chosen moderate exercise like going for walks, jogging, yoga, and so on. After all, isn’t that what the doctors recommend? At first things seem to go well, you start to shed some pounds and maybe feel a little better. Then, after a few weeks of your new routine, you plateau. You try and raise your time exercising or cut back more calories, but you can’t seem to get that weight loss started again. You might have even gained a couple pounds. Eventually, you give up on the pursuit altogether and return to your old ways.

John Griffin knows this story from personal experience. It happened to him to a T, but then he took a turn many others do not: he ditched the moderate exercise for high-intensity interval training. He not only lost weight, but that weight loss was mostly body fat, he gained muscle, his memory improved, and more! But why? Why did the high-intensity interval training succeed where moderate exercise and dieting failed? Will it work for others trying to lose weight, too?

These are the very questions that Griffin addresses in Flipping Your Fat Loss Switch, and more. The answers may be more obvious than you’d think. All you have to do is go back in time to the days of our Paleolithic ancestors and how humans became hardwired to survive among predators.

I’m going to get this out of the way right now: I hate exercise. I hate it with a passion. The only forms of exercise I’ve found any joy in have been walking, riding the stationary bike, yoga, and playing with my dogs. This avoidance of exercise, along with a poor diet and unfortunate hormonal imbalances, has led to me gaining a lot of weight. That’s why I decided to give Griffin’s work a look, and he may have convinced me to try high-intensity interval training despite my hatred of exercise.

Griffin presents his arguments and advice in a very logical, well-organized, and well-written manner. He backs all of his assertions with reliable resources, namely a variety of articles in a variety of scientific journals. My only problem with this fact is that the explanation of why high-intensity interval training works and why moderate exercise fails dragged on. This issue was especially tedious because it was mostly in the beginning of the book. I appreciate Griffin’s depth of research, but a little more concision or spreading the information throughout the book would have been more palatable.

Like most authors of self-help books, Griffin is a professional in this field (certified personal trainer and health coach). Better yet, he knows his method works from personal experience. Frankly, if he hadn’t gained my trust through his personal anecdote of weight loss, which contained many moments that I recognize from my struggles, I may not have continued to read the facts behind his advice.

Griffin certainly knows how to pique a reader’s interest when it comes to weight loss, I’ll give him that. He emphasizes the benefits beyond the weight loss and the short amount of time high-intensity interval training takes, both of which are very important in the modern world. He also anticipated all of my questions and needs. He answered everything from why moderate exercise doesn’t cause weight loss to step-by-step instructions for starting a high-intensity interval training program when you’ve been sedentary for a long time. (I definitely need that tip!)

While his writing is excellent overall and his content compelling, I did notice proofreading errors off-and-on. Namely, I noticed commas where they shouldn’t be and commas missing from where they should be. However, the more annoying errors were the use of “highintensity” and “lowintensity” in place of “high-intensity” and “low-intensity”. Of course, I was reading the book on Kindle and it’s very possible that it was just a formatting error due to my screen size.

Overall, I really recommend this book for people who are looking to lose weight. I know that “high-intensity exercise” may sound like too much work compared to moderate exercise, but Griffin has convinced me that really isn’t. While it requires more work during the brief session, high-intensity interval training takes less time and produces more results.

As a book, Flipping Your Fat Loss Switch is engaging, fascinating, and convincing. I think that intellectuals will want to read it just to see another side of the weight loss debate. Still, we won’t know for sure if Griffin is right until we give his method a try for ourselves. As Griffin says, just remember to consult your doctor when making any health-related changes. And for the love of God, don’t forget to warm up first! (And if you pursue this training, please leave a comment below letting us know how it’s going!)

You can get Flipping Your Fat Loss Switch as an e-book or in paperback on Amazon. To learn more about John Griffin and get more tips on health and exercise, be sure to check out his website.

Do you know of any books I should read? Want your work reviewed on this blog? E-mail me at thewritersscrapbin@gmail.com or message me on Fiverr and we can arrange something.

 

Trigger Warning: The book reviewed in this post, Beyond the Spiral Gates by Mutch Katsonga, contains depictions of abuse, violence, and corporal punishment which can only be described as torture. If you are triggered by such depictions or otherwise wish to avoid them, proceed with caution.

Happy Hump Day, readers and writers! After yesterday’s announcement about the passing of beloved fantasy/science fiction writer Ursula K. Le Guin, I’ve decided to lighten the mood some by bringing you another book review. Of course, the topic of the book in this review is not a light one, but the writing and story are both thrilling and compelling. Today I’m reviewing Beyond the Spiral Gates by Mutch Katsonga.

We all have things in our past that we’re not so proud of. Whether we’re embarrassed by the time we farted in class during high school or we did something so violent that we’re too ashamed to let anyone know about it, each of us has something we wish we could undo. Unfortunately, that’s not how life works, and these events can have drastic consequences. Even something entirely out of our control or in which we’re the victim can haunt us and change the entire course of our lives. Such an event leads us to the incarceration of the narrator of Beyond the Spiral Gates at Wicksfield, a school and prison for criminal boys.

The unnamed narrator has been dealt a bad hand. Pampered by his mother after his father died when he was a few months old, the narrator’s entire world turns upside-down when his mother remarries. He’s abused by his stepfather for disobedience, and his mother, while loving and doting, does nothing to stop it. Things only get worse for the narrator when a couple of horribly chaotic days lands him in Wicksfield, where he and the other boys are terribly mistreated and viewed as nothing but demon-infested vermin who need to be exorcised. But what happens when the narrator finally gets a chance to escape—not just one of his daytime jaunts but a true, planned escape that could actually gain him his freedom? Will he take it? And what will become of him once he gets beyond the spiral gates of Wicksfield?

Beyond the Spiral Gates by Mutch Katsonga is a gripping, heart-wrenching tale of a young man’s coming-of-age journey, a physical, emotional, and spiritual trek with more twists and turns than you can imagine. I can usually predict the outcomes of these kinds of books—that’s why I so rarely bother with them anymore—and while I could still see much of what was going to happen next, Katsonga pleasantly surprised me with plot twists I actually did not expect.

I simultaneously wanted to keep reading until I was finished and had to take multiple breaks. So many moments were cringe-worthy and emotional that they necessitated those breaks in order for me to continue. For me, that’s the sign of a good book in this genre; it both had my adrenaline pumping and made me emotionally attached to the main character.

I think, perhaps, the biggest reason why I experienced such emotional turmoil in sympathy with the main character is because I know that institutions like Wicksfield once existed. One real-life example constantly came to mind while reading Katsonga’s work: Preston School of Industry in Amador County, California, better known as Preston Castle. (If you’re a fan of Merle Haggard or Neal Cassady, you might know it because both of them were once wards of Preston Castle.) Knowing that such deplorable conditions and abuse once happened to such boys, even criminal boys, makes the depiction in this novel even more heartbreaking.

The unfortunate flaw I saw in Katsonga’s writing is that many of the characters are one-dimensional stereotypes. In particular, Hector Sevene—the head of Wicksfield—and Switch—the narrator’s bully from his hometown of Hayvern—did not receive much development or growth despite being rather crucial to the story.

However, this could have been by design. The book is narrated in first person, and so the reader only gets the narrator’s views on these people. To someone as angry and mistreated as the narrator, these people, both of whom represent different miserable aspects of his life, would only be those one-dimensional, almost devilish stereotypes. It’s a toss-up and probably depends on how the reader decides to interpret it.

The biggest mystery in the novel—and, thus, the most compelling aspect—is why the narrator ended up at Wicksfield in the first place. The event haunts the narrator throughout his time at Wicksfield and beyond, but for much of the book these brief glimpses are all that Katsonga gives the reader. While a little frustrating, it also kept me reading even if the book sagged a little. Mind you, it did not sag often, but the mystery really helped to keep me interested whenever it did.

Katsonga’s writing is, for the most part, crisp and quick-paced. Still, I thought that Katsonga’s descriptions were sometimes drawn out unnecessarily and slowed down the narrative. Katsonga takes several paragraphs to describe the narrator’s anger at seeing Switch again and what he would have done if he had known who it was sooner. While this description is amusing in a bitter-sweet way, I felt the tension begin to dissipate and I just wanted to watch them fight already. Similarly long descriptions are scattered throughout the book, but the rest of the novel is written well enough that these passages do not detract much from the overall experience.

Overall, I highly recommend Katsonga’s novel for thriller and mystery lovers. I noticed some proofreading errors but they were very minor, such as misused commas, and that could have just been the difference between American English and Queen’s English. At 166 pages, it’s a very quick read, perfect for those brief moments of downtime. If you’re sensitive to violence and/or institutionalized abuse, you’ll want to avoid this book. However, if you can stomach such issues, you’ll definitely want to read Beyond the Spiral Gates.

You can find Beyond the Spiral Gates in both e-book and paperback form on Amazon.

Do you know of any books I should read? Want your work reviewed on this blog? E-mail me at thewritersscrapbin@gmail.com or message me on Fiverr and we can arrange something.

 

Happy Monday! Another week has begun. Frankly, I’m not really in the mood for it. Given my current attitude, there’s some irony in the book which I am reviewing today: Stoicism: Be a Stoic, Live a Life of Joy and Cure Anxiety by Using Ancient Wisdom (The Happiness and Optimism of a Good Life) by Abel Gray.

Stoicism by Abel Gray is, as the title implies, a book about the Ancient Greek philosophy of stoicism and how it can be used to change your way of thinking and how you approach life for the better. In addition to explaining stoicism and how to use it in the modern day, Abel Gray explains the origins of the philosophy, how it has evolved over the centuries, and how it is used by today’s leaders and military.

Stoicism is not a light read. It’s full of philosophical terminology, history, and Ancient Greek names which can be hard to pronounce. Still, the lessons on positive thinking and not relying on destructible things (such as material goods and jobs) for happiness are useful even for those who aren’t into philosophy or history. The author mentions how large a role philosophy plays in the earlier parts of the book and even suggests that readers looking only for self-help start with chapter ten or twelve. (If that’s all you’re looking for, I actually recommend that you start with chapter eleven, which explains the importance and use of stoicism.) I just think that readers won’t get the most out of this book if they follow that strategy.

I found the history of stoicism incredibly interesting, but I had to read a few parts repeatedly to understand the explanations of the philosophy. I’m big into philosophical ideas and grew intrigued with the basic principles of stoicism as I read more of Abel Gray’s work. I am particularly focused on the idea that our perception, not external factors, makes our happiness. Nevertheless, I’m not much into philosophical terminology and often get lost if I don’t take my time with this sort of reading. Others may not have this problem, but those who do should really give themselves time to read and fully digest the first ten chapters of this book. I also don’t recommend it for nighttime reading; it’s much harder to concentrate then.

I think that the only true hindrance for the readability of Stoicism is the structure. There seems to be two books at work in these brief 168 pages, one which discusses the history and principles of stoicism and one which shows how we can use stoicism. The introduction somewhat connects the two concepts, but I don’t feel that it frames the work well enough. The subtitle for Stoicism implies that this is a self-help book focused on that philosophy. However, the principles and historical evolution far outweigh the self-help section. Expanding the introduction and the self-help section as well as weaving the history and principles in with the self-help tips would have improved the structure immensely and made the work more palatable for those who aren’t really into the technical terms.

Overall, Abel Gray’s writing is smooth, polished, and easy to follow—as easy as this subject allows, that is. I only noticed a couple proofreading errors, which indicates professional editing to me. I believe that the principles of stoicism are explained well and the connections they have with modern, everyday life are good food for thought. The history is fascinating and helps set the stage for the principles; I found the influence of stoicism on Christianity to be particularly captivating. However, the structure does the work no favors. I worry that Abel Gray will lose readers partway through because the volume of information is so staggering all at once, especially for a self-help book, yet I also think that readers will miss out if they skip straight to the self-help section.

If you have an interest in philosophy, history, and/or exploring new approaches to happiness, I highly recommend Abel Gray’s Stoicism. Just remember that even though it’s less than 200 pages, it’s a lot of information and will take a while to read and digest properly.

You can find Stoicism by Abel Gray as an e-book and in paperback on Amazon.

Do you know of any books I should read? Want your work reviewed on this blog? E-mail me at thewritersscrapbin@gmail.com or message me on Fiverr and we can work something out.

 

Happy Sunday, everyone! Today I want to shift gears from fiction and prose and give some attention to poetry. In particular, I want to introduce you to an engaging and talented modern poet named T.A. Price and review her collection of poems, Bent: 31 Poems.

Each of us has a story to tell buried in our pasts. We have had hard times, extraordinary times, beautiful times, times we’d rather forget. Regardless of the kind of story, we could all fill an entire book with our childhoods alone. That’s exactly what Price explores in Bent, the narrator’s unique story and connections in a series of poems.

Price’s poetry illustrates several strokes which go into the painting of the human experience: family, love, compassion, relationships, heartache, nostalgia, and more. Her poems include sweet moments of familial love as well as feelings of being the odd-man-out in your own family, tender hearts and heart break. The flair of a North Carolina upbringing shines in each line, giving the poetry a flair which can only be found in that state.

I am a fan of poetry, from Shel Silverstein’s childlike amusement and Dr. Seuss’s simplified political stances to the sophisticated call-to-arms of Percy Shelley and Robert Frost’s quiet self-reflection. Regardless, I’ve always been a bigger prose fan. Poetry, for me, is often too difficult to digest in just one read, which makes it hard for me to get and stay engaged in the poems. Still, Price’s poems are both easy to understand and compelling, allowing for me to complete the collection in one sitting.

That’s not to say that her work is oversimplified or lacks depth and/or variety of vocabulary. In fact, Price uses a mix of common vernacular and more complex terminology that her poems kept me on my toes, never so comfortable as to be bored but never frustrated with the amount of words I had to look up. Lines such as “across my splattered sky in hopeful sighting / of the perennial Trifid” are prominent in these poems. (Honestly, I hadn’t heard of perennial Trifid before Price’s poem “One Silver Vandoren Optimum Ligature”.)

Price utilizes her vocabulary to create vivid imagery and a soothing rhythm which is pleasant to the ear when read aloud. (It also helped to calm down Bubba when he was refusing to settle down for the night.) One of my favorite poems, “Ode to Jack”, embodies this beauty of imagery and sound:

 

Ode to Jack

Nocturnal hare on the barren desert ground

Acutest ears, alert to every sound

Agouti dorsal battledress of fur

On creamy, whitest legs, O saboteur

Of juniper, sweet clover, cactus feed

Sleep softly now on coriander seed,

 

The images are on the same level as Robert Frost, and the rhythm reminds me greatly of poems such as “Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night”. Price’s poems are hypnotic, which allowed me to escape from my own problems for a while, no matter how brief a time it was.

In addition to “Ode to Jack”, my favorite Price poems are “On Passion” and “Clearing”, which was probably because they both relate directly to my own experiences. “On Passion” depicts the passion with which the narrator’s mother sewed and how that passion parallels the narrator’s passion for writing. “Clearing” discusses the narrator’s crowded and cluttered mind and how writing poetry acts as a clearing of this mess. I have an affinity for poems on writing, but “Clearing” speaks to me on a personal level, especially the first verse:

 

My head has only

so much space.

So many songs.

So many words.

So many kingdoms.

Stumbling blind.

 

I often say that it’s Hell inside my head because so much goes on in there at once, but Price has put this feelings to words better than I ever have.

If you’re looking for rhyming poetry or poetry which follows a certain form, this collection is not for you. Some of the lines rhyme, yes, but Price does not rely on established rhyming patterns or verse styles. Instead, she depends on her own ear, her own heart, and her own beat which, to me, is the sign of a truly wonderful poet in the modern era. I have to agree with an assertion made by Ron Rash in the forward, “She is clearly one of our state’s [North Carolina’s] best poets, and I hope this book gains her a wide and appreciative audience.” I highly recommend her work for poetry fans and those who love home-spun tales from rural areas. I can’t wait to see where Price’s poetry takes her next.

You can find Bent in paperback on Amazon, or you can order it through Price’s website while also learning more about the poet herself. Also be sure to check out T.A. Price’s Facebook page for more information and updates on her future work.

Do you know of any books I should read? Want your work reviewed on this blog? E-mail me at thewritersscrapbin@gmail.com or message me on Fiverr and we can arrange something.