Category: Book Reviews

Warning: The book in today’s review, Lovebirds Fly South by Chris Leite, contains depictions of sex, violence, and severe mental illness. If you wish to avoid these issues, proceed with caution.

Happy Saturday, everyone! I want to start this weekend with another review, this time of a book that’s drastically different from The Darkling Threads and The Gospel of Nicholas. This novel is called Lovebirds Fly South by Chris Leite, and I don’t remember the last time I’ve read a book like it. My fantasy and science fiction readers may not be into it, but those who enjoy coming-of-age stories, pedestrian fiction, and incredibly insane (in the literal sense of the word) characters will love Leite’s work.

We all know what high school can be like: catty, backstabbing, full of drama. At least, that’s what I’ve seen in shows like Degrassi: Next Generation, and it’s what I’ve heard through second-hand stories. Personally, I never had to suffer through that sort of high school experience. (Thank God!) But plenty of us have, and it’s that sort of drama and craziness which Leite plays on in this book.

Kit is new to Brockton High, having decided to attend that school rather than one where he and his parents live so that he can play basketball. Little does he know that his appearance is about to turn the entire school upside-down as he becomes mixed in the affairs of Casey (Brockton High’s resident hot jock), Ashley (Brockton High’s resident hot mess), and Lucy (Brockton High’s ugly-duckling-turned-swan and Kit’s elementary school crush). What should have been a happy reunion with his old friend, Lucy, quickly morphs into a twisted world of scheming, cheating, dating, double-crossing, and insanity. Everything is not what it seems at Brockton High, a place where everyone’s motives are questionable and people are willing to do anything to get their way or preserve their reputations. So, pretty much, it’s like any other high school. But who will hook up with whom? Who will be betrayed, and who will be the traitors? Most importantly, will everyone survive to see their first real days of adulthood?

Lovebirds Fly South is a roller coaster ride of tension, relationships, and mystery. As often happens in life, the plot only thickens as the story progresses and layer upon layer of questions is added to the mix right to the very last page. I was hooked the moment that Kit and Ashley had their first “moment/not moment” during homeroom, and I had a hard time setting the story aside until I was finished with the entire 323 pages. Of course, each chapter—section? I’m not sure what to call them—is pretty short, usually only a few pages at a time. The shortness of these sections combined with the mystery and tension made it very easy for me to zoom through parts of this book before I would realize how late it had gotten.

I must also attribute this easy read to Leite’s writing. He develops a very unique narrator with a relatable, easy-to-follow voice, almost as though the narrator were right in front of me telling the story as part of the town’s latest gossip. This feeling especially appears whenever the narrator breaks the fourth wall and hints at future plot points or says things like “and the plot thickens.” Leite’s humor adds to this feeling and was one of my favorite parts of the book. My favorite line in particular is when Lucy’s stepfather says, in response to Lucy asking about work, “It’s good. Sometimes I fantasize about jumping out of the window and landing on my head, but other than that, it’s great.” These gems are prominent throughout the novel, and, for the most part, it made the drama and tension much more palatable.

Still, this humor and voice sometimes gave the characters a one-dimensional feel; in fact, many of the characters were very stereotypical. I’m particularly pointing to Ashley’s henchmen: Holly, Polly, and Molly. They were such Valley Girl sheep, Ashley could have told them to jump off a cliff and they probably would have while only being concerned about chipping a nail on the way down. I wanted to strangle them, and not just because they did something I disagreed with. They flat out annoyed me and, sometimes, pissed me off. The only saving grace with this sort of character development is that Leite probably made them flat on purpose. Within the context of this novel, I see these one-dimensional characters as satirical commentary on teenagers and young adults in the modern era. In fact, I’d argue that all the characters are remarks on modern society, particularly modern youth, in one way or another.

My favorite character is Sabrina with my second favorite being Cheri. Ashley is wonderfully unique and insane—I’m pretty certain she’s schizophrenic, based on her symptoms—but her malicious side makes it too difficult for me to connect with her like I usually do with mentally-ill characters. Sabrina, on the other hand, is a genuine and beautiful young woman despite her shortcomings. She has her insecurities like all of us and that leads to some very bad choices, but she still stays true to herself as much as possible. Cheri only appears briefly throughout the novel, but I love her attitude and strength. She had the courage to stand up to Ashley and she is unapologetically herself, even with her boyfriend J., and I think that such female characters are too underrepresented in literature even today.

For the first few sections, the plot seemed a bit disjointed. Leite throws multiple perspectives at the reader in a short amount of space, and I originally worried there would be no clear connection at all. Nevertheless, the connection soon became clear as Ashley’s mental state was revealed. Leite masterfully weaves each character’s story with the others after that point, which actually also helped to add more dimension to previously flat characters such as Casey.

Overall, this book is wonderful, although not my typical read. It is full of suspense, drama, twists, and emotional turmoil. Not all of the flat characters gain dimension, but those who do really come into their own and those who don’t serve as great comic relief. I noticed a few missplaced commas and missing words throughout the novel, but it’s nothing that another round of proofreading with a fresh set of eyes can’t fix. It certainly isn’t a reason for people who love edgy coming-of-age to not read Lovebirds Fly South. I also think that Leite left the perfect opening for more books with these characters, and I can’t wait to see where he takes them.

You can buy Lovebirds Fly South by Chris Leite as an e-book 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 reviewed in this post, The Darkling Threads by Derek Corsaro, contains dark scenes and depictions of violence. If you are triggered by such depictions or otherwise wish to avoid them, proceed with caution.

Good day, readers and writers! I have another book to share with you. Today I’m going to the other side of the science fiction/fantasy aisle and review an epic fantasy novel called The Darkling Threads by Derek Corsaro.

The geldens are a private race of beings. They keep their city hidden and have never traveled to the edge of Quiem Forest; they don’t even know if the black flames at the end of the world are truly the end of the world. The geldens only wish to protect their kingdom, but what happens when trouble comes looking for them and they don’t even realize it?

The Darkling Threads by Derek Corsaro follows Coda and Risa, mumblers charged with protecting the Gelden King, and Meen, a human/gelden hybrid, during the Time of Measurement, when gelden companies attempt to expand their maps of the outside world. As Meen and Coda face the threats of Quiem Forest, a new threat appears back home in the disguised form of true demon Daijobi and fledgling demon Elemelemelem. Only Risa suspects something is wrong with these new visitors, but she can’t put her finger on it. What do these strangers want with the gelden? Are they telling the truth about their motives? Can they be trusted? Most importantly, why isn’t Coda there to protect the Gelden King, and who will survive the Time of Measurement?

Corsaro has put a lot of imaginative energy into this story. I did recognize some elements as traditional to this genre, including some aspects of the plot and the use of demons. I otherwise feel that the author has created a new, complex world which is entirely unique to this series, complete with unique flora, fauna, histories, and societies. Even the magic there works differently than in any other epic fantasy novel I have read. The names of some of the creatures are so common to us now that they conjure slightly conflicting images in contrast to the author’s descriptions; panthers, for example, are used in the novel but these panthers are not like those that we would see on Earth. I love all the imaginative energy driving this work, but I do wish that some animal names were a little more unique to this world.

For the most part, Corsaro describes the different parts of this world vividly and kept my interest throughout. However, I would have liked to understand sooner what kind of being was at the heart of the story. It becomes clear within a couple a chapters and I could tell from the first chapter that the beings had magic; still, the descriptions did not fully indicate that the beings were not human until after the first chapter. I actually thought Coda was just a human with magic until the term “gelden” was first used. This detail is minor but I feel that the story would have had a stronger start if this fact had been more obvious earlier, especially since humans play a minor role much later in the novel.

In addition to his imaginative energy, Corsaro populates this world with a variety of characters. Some of them are more stereotypical, such as Skinner the elderly gelden who mistreats poor Meen for being different. The main characters, though, are compelling enough to push past any stereotypical traits.

This novel is definitely a story for misfits and outcasts. All of the main characters, even the fledgling demon Elemelemelem, are different from their fellows in one way or another. Coda is too connected to the world and its magic for the other mumblers; Risa cannot seem to master spells as well as her colleagues; Meen is seen as a hybrid bastard and a burden by most of the gelden; and the other fledgling demons and fledgling dragons think Elemelemelem is too weak to become a true demon.

Out of all the outcasts, Meen is my favorite character. His plight to fit in and leave his mark on the world touched me, and his growing friendship with Coda, while odd and sometimes awkward, gave me hope for both of them. His fate broke my heart, but I can’t comment on that any further without any spoilers. Meen seems like the stereotypical underdog, but that also means he’s easy to connect to and brings attention to a section of society which is often underrepresented.

Unfortunately, the sheer number of characters and perspectives sometimes bogs down the novel. Although told from third person omniscient, the shifts in perspective threw me off for the first couple chapters. They become easier to follow after that, but I wonder if Corsaro tried to pursue too many characters in one novel. On the one hand, this large cast allows Corsaro to explore many aspects of this world and the plot as well as more realistically depict in-depth political plots and battles. On the other hand, I found it hard to keep the characters straight at times. The exoticness of many of the names compounded this issue for me but, as a fantasy novel not taking place on Earth, it may detract from the credibility of the world if the names sounded too much like ours.

Overall, The Darkling Threads by Derek Corsaro is a well-planned, incredibly complex novel that is worth the 300+ pages. Corsaro’s characters and writings pulled me in fairly well, although it took a few chapters for me to feel emotionally attached to any of the characters. Once I did, though, I grew very attached and felt the highs and lows of some characters—particularly Meen, Coda, and Risa—very strongly. I noticed some minor proofreading errors, but they didn’t detract from my reading experience. I can’t wait to see where Corsaro takes Coda, Elemelemelem, and Daijobi in future installments.

You can get The Darkling Threads as an ebook 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 I’m sure we can arrange something.

 

Trigger Warning: The book discussed in the following review, The Gospel of Nicholas by Sam Even, depicts human trafficking and violence as well as containing human experimentation. This book also involves controversial views on religion, including—but not limited to—Christianity, Judaism, Islam, and Hinduism. If you are triggered by any of these subjects or otherwise wish to avoid them, proceed with caution.

Happy Monday, everyone! I want to start off the week with another book review, this time in one of my home territories, science fiction. This book is definitely unlike the other science fiction novels I have read and reviewed on this blog recently, but that by no means indicates that it is any less extraordinary. Today I am reviewing The Gospel of Nicholas by Sam Even.

Do you ever dream of immortality, whether it’s through living an inhumanly long life or by leaving a lasting legacy when you die? It’s only natural if you have. We all want to impact the world in ways much greater than our existence. More importantly, we all want to be remembered not just by our children or grandchildren or even our great-grandchildren, but by the entire world. Sam Even addresses this existential crisis and more in his suspenseful and thought-provoking science fiction novel The Gospel of Nicholas.

Timothy Mark Adams is an ordinary man working in the tech industry, trying to build a normal, stable life for himself after returning from years overseas in China. Then he meets local celebrity Nicholas McGregor of McGregor Wines, and Timothy realizes that something is missing in his life. Little does Timothy know, his new friend is not your ordinary “wine guy.” He’s a viticulturist and neurologist with a family-made scientific discovery which could change the world for the better, but at what cost? And is Nicholas truly the mastermind, or is someone else pulling the strings from behind the curtain?

Sam Even has created a gripping world of mystery, suspense, science, and human relations in a future that’s not far removed from our own. This novel had me from the very first sentence, and, despite its length of 312 pages, I found it so engaging and well-written that I wouldn’t have put it aside for long if I hadn’t had other obligations to attend to (I’m looking at you, Bubba). It isn’t always fast-paced, but the mystery and suspense driving the plot ooze from every line and so my attention rarely wavered.

One thing I appreciated about this novel is the diverse cast of characters. We have women and men, both strong and passive; we have characters of varying ages and backgrounds; most importantly, as a book with a widespread conspiracy theory, we have characters from all over the world, including India, China, Vietnam, and Ireland. Even clearly put a lot of effort into representing the world as it truly is—as opposed to the male whitewashing we still tend to see in most genres—and, as far as what was key to the novel’s development, he does fairly well. Perhaps more representation from the LGBTQIA+ community would have helped but, overall, I must applaud Even for what he did achieve.

Of course, just because the cast is diverse doesn’t mean that I liked all the characters. In fact, I had a love/hate relationship with most of them, and I think that’s another area in which this novel stands out from the norm in its genre. I especially struggled with my opinion of the two main characters. Timothy and Nicholas both have their moments in which they won my affection and their moments in which they lost it just as quickly. They are rather egotistical and self-centered, and Timothy is naïve on top of that. However, they are also very intelligent and have their moments of emotional vulnerability. Nicholas in particular feels an emotional attachment to Timothy—one which he tries to brush off to stress—and must face challenges to his long-held belief system. I don’t know how I would interact with these kinds of people in real life, but I oddly found myself hoping nothing bad happened to either and that their friendship would thrive, despite their many irritating traits.

The complexity of the novel may turn some readers away, but I think that true science fiction fans will appreciate it. Nothing is black and white, no one way of thinking or acting entirely right or entirely wrong. Even explores many aspects which make up the human experience, including psychology, neurology, religion, philosophy, and, yes, relationships. Religious readers may have a problem with Nicholas’s approach to and manipulation of religion, but the socio-politico-cultural commentary and character development justify this critique.

The Gospel of Nicholas is not without its flaws. I noticed a handful of proofreading errors, particularly in the first fourth of the book. However, these errors become less frequent as the novel progresses and are not distracting even in the beginning, so I don’t think that they detract from the overall reading experience.

I’m also mixed on the variety of perspectives involved in the narration. As a book told in third person, the transitions from one perspective to the next aren’t too difficult to follow. Still, many perspectives are used and it can be confusing when the first few transitions into a new character’s POV occur. Regardless, the depth of the plot beyond Timothy’s and Nicholas’s knowledge of events necessitates many perspectives in order to give the reader an accurate understanding of the situation. The transitions mostly feel natural, and so I can forgive those that jarred me.

Overall, I think Sam Even’s The Gospel of Nicholas is not only an enjoyable read but a thought-provoking one as well. The writing is simple and easy to follow, although some sections involve scientific and philosophical jargon. Even makes these sections readable and compelling for the most part, and all of it is needed in order to unravel the plot and conspiracy for both Timothy and the reader. I highly recommend this novel for science fiction lovers but especially those looking for a more intellectual read like Ursula K. Le Guin’s work.

You can get The Gospel of Nicholas as an e-book and in paperback through Amazon. Also make sure to check out Sam Even’s website.

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.

 

Hello, readers and writers! I’m here to bring you another review, this time of a book which I think will be very helpful to freelancers, bloggers, and pretty much anyone looking for an extra source of income. It might even give you some ideas for help in advertising your self-published works. The book I am reviewing today is Affiliate Marketing: Launch a Six Figure Business with Clickbank Products, Affiliate Links, Amazon Affiliate Program and Internet Marketing by Noah Gray and Michael Fox.

Have you ever seen a banner ad on a blog, perhaps related to the post it accompanies? Or a little rectangular Amazon ad on a website, maybe advertising a high-end vacuum or the latest George R.R. Martin novel? If so, you’ve been exposed to a concept called affiliate marketing. Affiliate marketing is when companies “allow people who sign up as marketers to promote their business and/or products” (Affiliate Marketing, Loc 527). Virtually anyone can do it if they know how; to make money, however, you have to know how to do it well.

In Affiliate Marketing, Noah Gray and Michael Fox teach readers not only how to begin affiliate marketing companies but to how to optimize their experience and earning prospects. Over twenty-two chapters, this book covers everything about affiliate marketing from its definition and getting started to promoting your campaign, mistakes to avoid, and even the details of specific affiliate programs. By the time you’re done reading, you’ll be able to jump right into this pursuit of good—although not always easy—money.

I have to admit that I briefly dipped into the Amazon Affiliate Program. However, I failed pretty badly. Now, thanks to Gray and Fox, I know why I failed and how I can better approach this endeavor. I didn’t even understand how large the scope of affiliate marketing is before reading this book or that there were programs outside of the Amazon Affiliate Program that I could check out.

Gray and Fox thoroughly and comprehensively dissect the various aspects of the affiliate marketing concept. Each chapter and section cover a different, although equally important, part of the process and avenues one can take while becoming an affiliate marketer, including multiple networks and affiliate programs readers can investigate. I especially found the sections on defining affiliate marketing, the Amazon Affiliate Program, and the mistakes that affiliate marketers make helpful. The book even gives instructions and suggestions on how to create websites which affiliate marketers use to promote products and services.

For the most part, Gray and Fox’s writing is smooth and easy to follow. They keep the language simple enough for most readers to understand without talking down to them. Of course, the topic necessitates the use of technical terms such as “Content Management System” (CMS). Still, these terms are never overly complicated. Even if you’re not a computer expert (guilty!), you would still be able to understand these terms. Gray and Fox try and define terms which seem more technical or advanced than the novice affiliate marketer is accustomed to. Even when they don’t, readers can decipher the meaning from context without too much effort.

The only real problem I had with Affiliate Marketing is the structure. All of the information is necessary. Regardless, I feel that some sections would have made more sense if organized differently. For example, I think that the advantages and disadvantages of affiliate marketing would work better when Gray and Fox are defining the concept and providing its history so that readers can decide sooner if this money-making opportunity is right for them. I also think that they should lump the information about what one should post on their site with the chapters on website traffic and structure.

These personal structural preferences aside, Affiliate Marketing is a very handy guide for those wanting to make money through online ads. It’s well-written, I only noticed a handful of proofreading errors, and the authors leave no stone unturned while describing the concept. I highly recommend reading this book before diving right into affiliate marketing. Trust me, I made that mistake with the Amazon Affiliate Program, and this book will save you wasted time.

I would actually go one step further and suggest reading Affiliate Marketing with Blogging for Dummies. A website or blog is key for online affiliating marketing, so I think that these books together would help you make the absolute most out of the experience.

Affiliate Marketing is available as an e-book and in paperback through Amazon.

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.

 

Happy Thursday, everyone! We’re almost to the weekend, and thank God for that. I’m just about ready to throw in the towel at this time, but that’s a discussion for another day. Right now I want to bring you another review, this time for an interesting combination of science and self-help. Oddly, though, my reasons for wanting the week to be over tie into the subject of this post. The book I’m reviewing today is Joy.ology: The Chemistry of Happiness by Turker Bas, PhD.

Have you ever wondered what the key to happiness is? Ever felt like everyone else has figured out the secret and you’ve just been left to wallow in your day-to-day survival of the modern capitalist world? If so, you’re not alone. Even celebrities and the rich aren’t truly happy; they’re just taking hits off of happiness shortcuts which only satisfy them in the short term. Very few people alive today seem to have obtained genuine, long-term happiness. How, then, can we achieve true happiness?

These are the kinds of questions which Bas attempts to answer in Joy.ology. Like the rest of us, Bas began his journey to writing this book based solely on his desire to learn what happiness is and why we have yet to find it. He does not search for his answers in the expected fields of philosophy, religion, or psychology. Instead, Bas turns to neurobiology and the chemicals behind happiness. In around 214 pages, he explains how our brains experience happiness, how this process began, and how the original programming of our brains–which he dubs our “primitive brain”–fails us in modern society. Most importantly, Bas presents alternatives to constantly relying on artificially-triggered releases of chemicals like dopamine and serotonin, alternatives which may contain the elusive secret to true happiness.

I enjoyed this book even more than I thought I would. Initially, with these kinds of books, I expect either a dull read stuffed with scientific jargon or a self-help work which boosts the reader’s ego but contains little more than fluff. Bas manages a balance between his scientific basis for his argument and conversational, anecdotal examples to support and illustrate this basis. The cartoons scattered throughout the book also provide welcomed breaks. These cartoons do not necessarily provide a visual representation of data–those are represented by helpful charts and graphs–but accompany the examples in a similar way to self-help books or even political cartoons.

Some parts of the book, particularly those explaining the origin and purpose of different happiness chemicals, require more attention to understand than others. I had to re-read some of sections, such as those explaining how dopamine and serotonin work, in order to ensure I fully understood the concepts. (Of course, that may have just been my own paranoia regarding misunderstanding what I read.) Still, I found Bas’s casual yet informative tone to be much more engaging than a typical science book while proving more credible than most self-help or self-improvement books. The work’s credibility is also strengthened by the fact that Bas meticulously sites all his claims—although it does not by any means overwhelm the core text—and all his notes and citations can be found at the end of the book.

I think the best testament to this work’s quality is the fact that it has helped me understand better why I have such severe anxiety and keep dipping back into my depression despite all my anti-anxiety pills and antidepressants. It will, admittedly, take some time and conscious effort on my part in order to enact Bas’s advice on creating true happiness. He constantly tells readers that it won’t be an easy change but is necessary in order to reprogram our brains for happiness in modern society. Regardless, I now better comprehend some of the biological reasons behind such issues as my social anxiety and fear of failure, and that comprehension alone brings me one step closer to being able to fix these problems.

One piece of advice that I really took to is the suggestion for light exercise in order to handle the chemicals associated with stress. Most people approach exercise as pushing yourself to your limits. Bas, on the other hand, emphasizes that walks and light jogging can do our happiness levels a load of good, more so than “no pain, no gain” exercise. I was glad to see him take the time to explain the difference between exercising for stress relief and exercising for weight loss, the latter hardly ever being maintained in the long-term. This distinction is so rarely made that it really stuck with me when Bas mentioned it.

Of course, this book is not without its flaws. Namely, I noticed a fair number of proofreading errors which were, at times, distracting. Bas does not use American English, which may explain some of what I interpreted as errors. (I’m only familiar with American English.) Nevertheless, I know this regional difference does not account for everything. The mistakes do not detract from the general quality of the book, especially the content itself, but I wish more proofreading had been done.

Overall, I found Joy.ology to be both informative and enjoyable. Proofreading errors aside, I recommend this book to anyone searching for the secret behind true happiness or for people who have a curious mind. It won’t change your life right away, but it’ll point you in the right direction.

If you want to check out Bas’s book, you can find it as a Kindle e-book or in paperback on Amazon.

You know of any books I should read or 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: All These Things by Mark Tiro briefly depicts incidents of violence and rape. If you are triggered by such events or wish to avoid reading them, proceed with caution.

Happy Sunday, everyone, and Merry Christmas Eve to my readers who celebrate it! As my holiday gift to my readers, I’m posting another review. Today’s review is for All These Things (The Spirit Invictus Series Book 2) by Mark Tiro.

All These Things follows Maya as she faces the strangest case in her history as a Public Defender. The District Attorney has filed murder charges against David for the death of his young daughter in a car accident. The DA’s argument? He was trying to kill himself and, by extension, his daughter. The truth, though, is much stranger than the DA or Maya could have ever imagined.

Tiro illustrates Maya’s journey as she not only attempts to prove David’s innocence but as she faces the ghosts of her past. All the while, the reader is left to wonder: What exactly happened leading up to the car crash? How—and why—is David so peaceful when he has lost his daughter and is facing life in jail for something he did not do? Most importantly, how is her experience with David going to alter Maya’s view of the darkness clouding her life? The result is an emotional roller coaster with many twists, turns, and spiritual revelations.

Tiro has written another gripping, mind-altering piece of fiction, albeit in a very different style than the first book in The Spirit Invictus series. All These Things is much more straight-forward than Implicit: Soul Invictus, and so I think it will appeal to a wider range of readers. Still, it is no less spiritual or deep. David presents a theory about reality which is very much in line with the lessons about love from Implicit: Soul Invictus. His arguments about the world being an illusion also align with Plato’s The Cave, an allegory which I have discussed previously on this blog. (I’m not afraid to admit that I’m kind of obsessed with it and so appreciated this sort of view being depicted in Tiro’s work.)

Readers watch as Maya struggles with David’s lessons about reality and the illusion that is the world, and I could feel her struggle every step of the way. Tiro presents Maya in a way that her resistance—and, later, reluctant acceptance—of David’s views makes complete sense and is entirely relatable. After all, who would want to accept that the world is just an illusion and all that is real is love? Maya’s horrific personal experiences make her even more relatable and likeable as a character, even though her anger and competitiveness can get in the way of her relating to anyone—including the reader.

The relationships between Maya and her friends are perfectly complex and enjoyable to read. I especially appreciate her relationships with the other women at the Public Defender’s Office and with the man with whom she shares her office, Donald. The relationships are playful and fun yet also deep and prone to disagreement, as all real friendships are. Maya’s love life is, understandably, unstable and unhealthy. Tiro justifies every complexity in Maya’s relationships and ties them, sometimes indirectly, with a particular set of tragedies from her childhood. Through these relationships and her encounters with David, Maya becomes a truly three-dimensional character, perhaps even more so than in the first book.

The legal jargon in the book, fortunately, is not a huge focus. Tiro realistically discusses the procedures and use of penal codes throughout the novel, but this usage never distracts from the main story nor does it slow down the narrative too badly. I am in no way versed in legality terms but I found it easy to make it through the passages which contained them and still understand what was going on.

All These Things is meant to be the sequel to Tiro’s Implicit: Soul Invictus, which I reviewed here a couple weeks ago. However, this book reads more like a prequel than a sequel in many ways. We get to see Maya before she becomes a law school professor, back in her days as a PD, and learn more about the bizarre case which she wanted to write about in Implicit: Soul Invictus. Tiro has admitted that All These Things was the first of the books he had written with Implicit: Soul Invictus coming later, and I think that that order shows in the books. In fact, I wish that I had read this book first. I came to understand Maya much better, including her experience with the spiritual world before the events of Implicit: Soul Invictus. Such background would have helped me to understand Maya’s journey in the first book much better, and I feel that I should go back and re-read Implicit: Soul Invictus now that I am armed with this new knowledge.

Overall, All These Things is an excellent piece of fiction with an engaging plot and dynamic characters. I spotted a few minor proofreading errors along the way, but they did not detract from the novel in general. While it is out of the intended order, I would actually suggest reading this book before the first book. Much more will make sense in the first book if you do. Even if you read them in the intended order, I think that fans of the supernatural and spiritual fiction will love both of these books, although for different reasons each time. You don’t get the same reading experience from both books in the series, but that’s part of the appeal to Tiro’s work.

If you want to read All These Things by Mark Tiro, you can order it as a Kindle book from Amazon. The Kindle book also includes a preview of Implicit: Soul Invictus and a note from the author about his process. To learn more about Mark Tiro, you can visit his website or check him out on Facebook.

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 Sunday, everyone! I want to talk about a book which is specifically for children, although I think that adults could benefit from it as well. At the very least, adults will learn fun facts that they most likely had not heard about elsewhere. Today I will be reviewing Famous STEM Inventors by Sumita Mukherjee.

Famous STEM Inventors tells the stories of nine young inventors and their unusual inventions. These stories explain the processes the inventors went through to plan and build their inventions—i.e. the scientific method—and include activities which encourage readers to participate in the process themselves. Colorful illustrations accompany each story, and definitions are provided for all words which may be too advanced for young readers to understand on their own. Parents can read this book with their children (which I always encourage) or let their children have at it so that their imaginations can go wild.

American children aren’t typically taught the scientific method (or the Engineering Design Process, as it’s narrowed to the specific process for engineering here) in-depth until they’re older, probably around middle school (if I’m remembering correctly, it’s been so long). Mukherjee ensures that readers are introduced to the wonders of this process long before that point, and she does it in such a way that children can easily follow along. More importantly, she makes the scientific method fun by showing children all of the cool things which can come from it as well as showing them that even children can be inventors. Mukherjee lets readers know that, with the scientific method, the only real limits are their imaginations and how hard they’re willing to work.

I would have loved to read a book like this as a child. Of course, I was a nerd. I pretty much came out of the womb a nerd. However, this book isn’t just for nerds like me. Mukherjee’s examples of inventions include glow-in-the-dark paper and chewing gum, both of which would be appeal to children of all interests and backgrounds. The activities may appeal more to children who already harbor STEM interests, but it would be hard for any child to read this and not feel their imaginations ignite.

At only 33 pages, it won’t take a child too long to read it if they only read the inventors’ stories. The illustrations also help the book be a quicker read and keep readers’ attention. Still, you can count on it taking them much longer as they will want to take part in the activities as well.

I really have no qualms with Mukherjee’s work. The illustrations utilize multiple drawing styles but, considering I didn’t even notice that until I read the book a second time, this fact does not detract from the experience. In fact, it might enhance the reading experience because the style used matches the inventor and the invention discussed in the accompanying story.

One particular element makes this book stand out from others like it: diversity. Mukherjee includes inventors of multiple backgrounds. They are not just of different ages and from different times; they are male and female and come from a variety of races and ethnicity. I know from experience that many books like these focus on Caucasian males, which can be discouraging to children who do not fall into this category. I love that Mukherjee addresses a wider variety of backgrounds, and I genuinely hope that she writes other books like this so that she can highlight even more kinds of backgrounds.

Overall, I think that children and parents will both love this book. Children will love the fun facts, activities, and illustrations, and parents will love watching their children get their first real taste of STEM and the scientific method. Not only will this book nurture preexisting interest in science, but I think it will also change a few lives for the better.

You can order Famous STEM Inventors on Amazon both in paperback and as a Kindle e-book. Also make sure to check out the other books in Mukherjee’s Wizkids Club series and visit her website.

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

Update 12/15/2017: Learn more about healthy living through the Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook accounts for Valeria Johnson’s blog, Passionate Clouds.

Happy Friday, everyone! Sorry for my scarcity this week; it’s been another busy one for me and I’ve had migraine attacks and headaches off and on for days. I’m back—at least for today—and here to bring you a combination of a special announcement and a review. This time the announcement and review are for a self-help book crossed with an inspirational story. Today’s book is Era of the Beautiful Women by Valeria Johnson.

As the title might indicate, this book is for my female readers more than the males. In Era of the Beautiful Women, Johnson takes the reader on a journey to discover the true key to health, beauty, and, by extension, happiness. This key does not have to do with any of the artificial make-up, fad diets, or mounds upon mounds of products which the commercial and fashion worlds try to force on us. Instead, this key can be found in the natural and organic worlds.

Johnson utilizes the story of Samantha, a rising writer who has fallen into some bad habits, to illustrate tips for restoring your waistline, energy level, hair, and more. We start with Samantha’s moment of clarity, the moment when she realizes she isn’t happy with living off junk food and a sedentary lifestyle, while hanging out with her beautiful, healthy, and happily-married older sister. We follow Samantha through her attempts to become happier, from adapting a healthier diet to fulfilling her dream of living abroad. All the while, Samantha encounters “beautiful” women and health professionals who share their secrets with her, which Samantha gladly absorbs and applies to her daily life. These tips begin to add up until, finally, Samantha has become the sort of person who is not only healthy and beautiful but also someone she is proud of and happy to be.

I have always had a love/hate relationship with the issues of health and beauty. Standards for both issues are very unrealistic and, often, harmful when taken too far. Between body-shaming and the complete societal rejection of any minute imperfection, I am always wary of anything which promises the secret to beauty. However, Johnson doesn’t necessarily promise that. Instead, her book provides women with tips which will make them look better and feel better. Beauty, after all, is not just about how you look to others but about how you feel about yourself.

Johnson emphasizes this fact in Samantha’s story and I really appreciate how she does it. Namely, Johnson uses Samantha’s hair color to demonstrate that what “looks good” isn’t always the best thing for you. Everyone thinks Samantha looks gorgeous when she dyes her hair blonde. Over the years, though, her constant coloring, bleaching, and other assorted hair treatments causes her hair to become fragile, dry, and unhealthy in general. Although she eventually lands on being blonde again, Samantha cuts back on the artificial treatments of her hair, choosing to use natural treatments like honey to bring life back to her hair. She feels better when she stops trying to conform to societal standards of beauty (i.e. constantly dying her hair just to have some new look). That is what I appreciate most about Johnson’s book; it’s not about conforming to this or that societal standard but doing what makes you feel healthy, happy, and, yes, beautiful.

Johnson weaves her tips and tools for a healthier and more beautiful life throughout Samantha’s narrative and gradually shows how the changes are making Samantha feel better and more confident. This method requires the reader to pay closer attention to the story in order to get the information, but I don’t think that at all detracts from the experience. In fact, I think that it helps the information stick in the readers’ heads. Which would you remember better, someone telling you that you should eat more fruit to have more energy or a story about a woman seeing positive changes in her life because her new diet increases her energy level?

I think that female writers and editors in particular will appreciate Samantha’s story. She’s a rising writer and has worked some editing jobs. While she works on her projects, she snacks on junk food and does not move for hours. Who here hasn’t experienced that pitfall of the writing life? Era of the Beautiful Women offers alternatives to this vicious cycle which any writer can incorporate into their everyday lives, so long as they try.

Still, this book is not without its flaws. I noticed multiple proofreading and editing errors, including misplaced punctuation, awkward sentences, the occasional typo, and one instance of a character’s name being misspelled. As this book is meant to help readers improve their lives, I don’t think these errors take away from the main messages. The errors are easy enough for Johnson to fix, so I don’t think they’re a huge detraction from the quality of the book.

I also wish that the book were longer. At only 47 pages, I feel that Johnson did not include all the advice she has for readers and that we could have seen so much more of Samantha’s inspirational tale. The short length makes for a quick read but, as the advice is so valuable and Samantha’s tale so motivating, I feel that expanding the book would only make it better.

Overall, I recommend this book for any woman—especially female writers—looking to improve her energy level, outlook on life, and, yes, her appearance. Johnson’s simple, yet relatable and heart-touching, introduction pulls you in and you’ll want to continue right through the end to see if Samantha finally gets the joy and romance which she deserves—and, of course, get the tips and tools to find your own happiness and beauty. Johnson is even kind enough to include a link at the end of the book to blog which can help readers follow up on the organic, active life.

The best part is that the Kindle edition of Era of the Beautiful Women is currently free! This promotion started today (December 15^th) and will continue through December 19^th. Follow this Amazon link to snag it while you can.

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’ll see if we can arrange something.

 

Trigger Warning: The subject of today’s review, Implicit: Soul Invictus by Mark Tiro, contains detailed scenes of violence and sex. If you are triggered by such depictions or wish to otherwise avoid such subjects, proceed with caution.

As I promised a couple days ago, today I am reviewing Implicit: Soul Invictus by Mark Tiro. I found that I enjoyed this book very much, but I must warn readers that this book is not the ordinary fantasy/science fiction novel. It is very cerebral and requires a fair level of concentration to follow, so it’s not exactly a light read. Of course, I wouldn’t expect a fantasy book about reincarnation to be easy—if it were, I would probably be a bit disappointed.

Some souls travel together out love, others out of animosity, but always by the choice of the universe to convey crucial spiritual lessons. At least, that’s what Implicit: Soul Invictus would have you think.

Maya is a well-accomplished and respected law school teacher; before becoming a teacher, she was just as successful as in criminal law. That all comes crushing down when, one day, a student of high influence blackmails her: raise his grade or he’ll ruin her career. Being the honorable and stubborn woman that she is, Maya refuses, and her student proves good to his word. Her desperate attempt at revenge against him puts her in the wrong place at the wrong time, and that’s when her spirit’s journey truly begins.

In Implicit: Soul Invictus, the first book in The Spirit Invictus series, Mark Tiro takes readers on an adventure through Maya’s lives—past, present, and future—as her soul is taught the importance of love and forgiveness. Tiro guides readers through Ancient Rome, World War II Japan, into a future of political turmoil and a level of connection to the “network” that we can only dream of right now, and that’s just the beginning. But will Maya’s soul adapt the lessons the universe is teaching her? Or will she fail once more as she given a second chance?

I found genuine contentment and entertainment, as well as intellectual stimulation, while reading Tiro’s work. Tiro writes with such a passion that I repeatedly formed a connection with Maya’s soul, no matter what physical form it took, be it a Roman orator, an emotionally-struggling cyber-nerd thrown into a rebellion, or a stubborn ex-law professor hell-bent on justice. I could tell from the patterns in Maya’s lives what sort of things would happen in each life; this coupled with my emotional attachment to her soul and its well-being, no matter how egotistical or naïve she got, made for a very tense read for me. I dreaded any ill-fortune to befall her but I couldn’t put the book down, either. I had to know how each life turns out and, in the end, how her soul utilizes the lessons it has learned.

I was most intrigued by how, despite the very different circumstances each life presents, Tiro maintains Maya’s personality throughout each form she takes. The stubbornness, the arrogance, the slight naivety, and, of course, her kindness and capacity for love always show, and yet each incarnation has its own unique voice. I’m not sure how Tiro pulls it off, but he does.

Unfortunately, with all this passion comes proofreading errors. They aren’t anything extraordinary, only misplaced or missing commas, misspelled names, etc. Such mistakes are common in small-press and indie books but I was still a bit disappointed that I came across them as the writing is, overall, excellent. A little further proofreading/editing should fix these mistakes with no problem.

The book is divided into sections based on the life which Maya is living—or re-living—as well as a few chapters on what can be called the “in-between” stages, when Maya has died but has not yet been reborn or fully moved on to the afterlife. The transitions only jarred me once or twice, usually moving relatively smoothly from one life/death to the next with only a couple exceptions. Still, I can see how other readers might have a harder time with it. Thankfully, the division of the sections is done in a way in which Tiro makes it clear that the story has turned to another life, mainly by providing the name which Maya’s soul has during that time.

Tiro is also kind enough to provide a forward to the novel and a letter from the author at the end to aid the readers’ understanding of his work. For some, these notes won’t be necessary, especially if you read the summary on Amazon (or even the summary I provided above). Nevertheless, I found Tiro’s notes to be helpful in keeping me grounded in the story and also answered some historical questions I had by the time I finished reading the novel.

Overall, I recommend this book to fantasy lovers with a spiritual side and a basic understanding of reincarnation. Tiro packs each section/life, mini-stories into themselves, with emotion, action, and intrigue. The general themes of forgiveness, love, and learning from our mistakes are ones we can all adapt into our own lives, and I’m sure that the idea of the soul transcending lifetimes and a non-linear nature to existence will appeal to many of my readers. Don’t take this book on lightly. It’s long and requires your full attention to understand, but I doubt that will hinder any of you.

The Kindle copy of Implicit: Soul Invictus is currently for sale on Amazon for $2.99. You can also get an exclusive glimpse at All These Things: Maya Invictus, the second book in The Spirit Invictus series, at the end of the Kindle e-book. To learn more about the author, you can visit his website or check him out on Facebook.

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 for more information.

 

Warning: The views and opinions expressed in The Golden Prayer by Edward Weiss do not necessarily reflect on the view, opinions, and beliefs of The Writer’s Scrap Bin or its writer. If you have any issues with the discussion of religion, proceed with caution.

Another day, another book review. The book I’m reviewing today is essentially the polar opposite of yesterday’s book, A Killer’s Reflection. Today’s book is The Golden Prayer by Edward Weiss, a book comprised of five non-fiction, religious essays about finding God.

In The Golden Prayer, Weiss argues that we are not separate from our creator—from his perspective, God—and that everything we experience in the physical world is predetermined. Therefore, he claims, in order to be truly free we must realize that we are one with God; we, as individuals, have no real importance and, as a result, do not need to carry the burdens which we pile on ourselves day after day. He says that God already provides that which is most important to us and that anything else is extra; we may not necessarily lose that “extra” stuff—money, family, love, etc.—when we admit and embrace the idea that we are part of God but they are unimportant in the face of the bigger picture.

How can we make the transition from focusing on material desires and our self-importance to loving God, you may ask? Weiss tells the reader to use prayer, but not just any prayer. He claims “There is only one prayer you will need to know and love G—d”, i.e. The Golden Prayer. The Golden Prayer reads, “Let Go, For I Am Here.” This letting go, to Weiss, is key to the freedom of finding God. The “ignorant” or “unlearned”, as he calls people who have not accepted this belief yet, fight against letting go because they desire to continue their happiness, a temporary satisfaction brought on by striving for our desires but, ultimately, does not satisfy or free us. Weiss’s book teaches why it is important to let go, to accept this belief as truth, in order to live a spiritual and blissful existence and begin your “real” life, the one in which you live in God for eternity.

I have established before that I am not religious. I have read and reviewed several religious books because I am open-minded, but none have aligned with my belief systems. Weiss’s has not, either. Still, it raises many questions which anyone with even a shred of a spiritual side should ask: are we, as individuals, really that important in the grand scheme of things? Do we truly have free will or is everything predetermined? Are we actually satisfied in living our short lives on Earth chasing one goal after another, most of them material and/or financial? You may come to different conclusions than Weiss—in fact, I’m betting that at least one of your conclusions will differ from his—but his book has articulated arguments which have been making the rounds to all circles of life for decades, maybe centuries.

The religious nature of the book aside, Weiss’s work is very well-written. I noticed minimal grammatical and spelling errors, so minimal that I can’t think of any off the top of my head. His sentences are also eloquent, structured nicely, and easy enough that more novice readers can understand without talking down to anyone. Nevertheless, I feel the argument is often repetitive. He states, again and again and typically in the same ways, how humans must learn to let go of the ignorant mindset, that we’re all part of the eternal sea, how we really aren’t that important and so shouldn’t force these responsibilities on ourselves, etc. The repetition, at times, lost my attention and could make it hard for me to push on enough to get to the next epiphany.

In particular, one image is recycled for two concepts which, in the end, confused me more than helped. In one breath, Weiss acts as though we should be more childlike because, as very young children, we only know that we exist, we feel that we are a part of this eternal perfection, and have not yet been polluted by the societal ideals regarding responsibility. In the next, he says that the bound (i.e. those focused on the desires of the physical world) are the children and the free (those who know the “truth”) are adults. I found it hard to reconcile those two meanings for the child/adult imagery and, while Weiss admits that much of this process is a paradox, I struggled with thinking that both kinds of people are both child and adult. That imagery coupled with the repetition made it hard for me to trudge through the book at points, but I had to so that I could digest Weiss’s argument about our purpose—or non-existent purpose, as he claims—and determinism.

This book is not for everyone. First of all, it’s entirely based in religion. If I did not have such a curious mind and a desire to see all angles of an argument, I probably would not have read it for that reason. Second, it’s comprised of five essays. I know that many readers are reluctant to dive into essays as they are often dry, impersonal, and remind people too much of school. Nevertheless, I think The Golden Prayer worth reading for those with intellectual/spiritual curiosity. There are parts that can be hard to get past but, once you do, you will find many thought-provoking gems that will get you thinking about the world in new ways. It may not change your worldview, but this book will get you thinking.

You can check out Weiss’s book on Amazon, both to buy as an e-book and through Kindle Unlimited, as well as in paperback.

Do you know of a book that you think 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 get a conversation going.