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My To-Be-Read Pile: Non-fiction

By Jan

on May 24, 2014

I have a very long list of books on my Kindle wish list on Amazon.com: currently 142 books. There are many historical novels, fantasies and science-fiction, and historical mysteries. The rest are non-fiction, and I thought I thought I’d start with a few from that group. Hopefully, you will find one that sounds good and add it to your own list.

What is on your list of TBR? Can you categorize them easily, or are they eclectic? What is on the top of the list?

The Business Card: How a few words on a business card changed a man… by Steve Steff
“… beautifully describes the life changing experience of a successful business owner as he chooses to live out a commitment to God and a love for others.”

Cat Sense: How the New Feline Science Can Make You a Better Friend to Your Pet by John Bradshaw
“… renowned anthrozoologist John Bradshaw takes us further into the mind of the domestic cat than ever before, using cutting-edge scientific research to explain the true nature—and needs—of our feline friends.”

The Blood Sugar Solution 10-Day Detox Diet: Activate Your Body’s Natural Ability to Burn Fat and Lose Weight Fast by Mark Hyman
“Based on Dr. Hyman’s groundbreaking Blood Sugar Solution program, THE BLOOD SUGAR SOLUTION 10-DAY DETOX DIET presents strategies for reducing insulin levels and producing fast and sustained weight loss.”

It Was the Best of Sentences, It Was the Worst of Sentences: A Writer’s Guide to Crafting Killer Sentences by June Casagrande
“In this wickedly humorous manual, language columnist June Casagrande uses grammar and syntax to show exactly what makes some sentences great—and other sentences suck.”

The Strategic Web Designer: How to Confidently Navigate the Web Design Process by Christopher Butler
“More than a book about building websites, The Strategic Web Designer is your guide to thinking about the web in a strategic and comprehensive manner. Be more than just a web designer–take charge of your web projects and make yourself invaluable to clients.”

Three Squares: The Invention of the American Meal by Abigail Carroll
“Revealing how the simple gruel of our forefathers gave way to cheese puffs and moon pies, Three Squares fascinatingly traces the rise and fall of the American meal.”

The Age of Wonder: The Romantic Generation and the Discovery of the Beauty and Terror of Science by Richard Holmes
“… a colorful and utterly absorbing history of the men and women whose discoveries and inventions at the end of the eighteenth century gave birth to the Romantic Age of Science.”

The Doctor Wore Petticoats: Women Physicians of the Old West by Chris Enss
“… in small towns all over the west, highly trained women from medical colleges in the East took on the post of local doctor to great acclaim. These women changed the lives of the patients they came in contact with, as well as their own lives, and helped write the history of the West. In this new book, author Chris Enss offers a glimpse into the fascinating lives of ten of these amazing women.”

In categories List Tagged with amazon.com, e-book

Review: Fires of Alexandria

By Jan

on February 12, 2014

Fires of Alexandria: Book One of the Alexandrian Saga by Thomas K. Carpenter

This is historical fiction based on some facts but with an extremely implausible story. I usually enjoy ancient history and gave it a good try.

The famous Heron, genius and inventor, lived in Alexandria, Egypt during the first century, A.D. The Roman Empire had taken control of the city and tensions were high. In this story, the twin sister of Heron posed as the great man after his death, and was under pressure to find the real cause of the fire—from 100 years earlier—that burned a large part of the Library of Alexandria. She was also creating steampunk-like war machines to fight the Romans.

The prose is not very skilled; it lacks editing, which took away from the interesting story. Don’t even get me started on editing—it’s what I do for a living. If the errors had been made during ebook conversion, it would have been somewhat more forgivable.

There was a lot of repetition and the story dragged for me. The plot involved several elements that were too disparate to reconcile, and the “mystery” couldn’t really be solved. However, the characters were well-drawn and interesting, which made up for a lot. Still, I won’t be rushing out to continue this series.

In categories Book Review, Historical Novel Tagged with e-book, roman empire

Review: The Old Man and the Wasteland

By Jan

on December 19, 2013

The Old Man and the Wasteland by Nick Cole

Genre: Science Fiction
Publisher: HarperCollins (Harper Voyager)
Paperback ISBN: 978-1461076384

I don’t read a lot of post-apocalyptic books; they really depress me. But I was fortunate enough to find this one on a free Kindle list and gave it a shot. [Note: Although this novel is a standalone read and a real gem, it also comes bundled with two others in what is called a trilogy.]

The author uses themes that parallel Ernest Hemingway’s “The Old Man and Sea,” and the book itself is a prop in the story. Anyone familiar with that work will recognize characters and plot motifs. Some are obvious, while others many not come to you until days later.

The Old Man is a survivor of a war that devastated the country many years before, and he lives with a small group of others in what was once the American southwest. He salvages items of use to the group, and that task has become more difficult without going further from the camp. One day, he decides he can’t return without a decent find, and he will keep walking until he gets something, no matter what happens.

The things he does, the trouble he runs into, and the characters he meets are mostly brutal and disturbing. However, they occur within the context of the story and are not gratuitous. The author does a great job describing the Old Man’s struggles against the physical world and his own emotions.

I like good description in a book, but not to the point where my imagination is unnecessary. Cole uses just the right amount of narrative to illustrate the wasteland and the people in it, while allowing for your own fancy to fill it out.

I have mixed feelings about the Epilogue; basically, whether or not it was necessary to the book. However, it was interesting. I can’t say more without spoilers.

Overall, I give high marks to this book and recommend it without hesitation. Even after the bad dreams…

In categories Book Review, Science-fiction Tagged with e-book, ebook, Kindle, science-fiction

Review: Forging Zero

By Jan

on July 4, 2013

Forging Zero by Sara King

Genre: Science Fiction

From Amazon.com:
“The Legend of ZERO begins the epic journey of 14-year-old Joe Dobbs in a post-apocalyptic universe following a massive alien invasion of Earth. The oldest of the children drafted from humanity’s devastated planet, Joe is impressed into service by the alien Congressional Ground Force—and becomes the unwitting centerpiece in a millennia-long alien struggle for independence. Once his training begins, one of the elusive and prophetic Trith appears to give Joe a spine chilling prophecy that the universe has been anticipating for millions of years: Joe will be the one to finally shatter the vast alien government known as Congress. And the Trith cannot lie.…

But first Joe has to make it through bootcamp.”

This is a very engaging story about a young man who is taken from Earth to serve in an alien army. He is the oldest recruit and is a natural leader for the younger children with whom he serves. But he is also reminded of his father, a US Marine who fought and died against the aliens. The aliens are obviously the bad guys in the story, but there are a variety of aliens and they differ in their level of villainy. The treatment of children is difficult to stomach at times, and there is a great deal of violence.

However, children are resilient and they accept things they cannot change, at least faster than adults would. How the children adapt to their situation is a large part of the plot.

I found the writing to be very good and the story moved along quite well. There were a few parts that dragged during training, but perhaps that was intentional, to give us a feeling of what the kids were going through at the time.

The characters were quite a collection of personalities, some malign and some noble, but most were somewhere in between – humans and aliens included. One of the struggles Joe goes through during the book is trying judge who to trust, and he’s not always successful.

Because this is the first of several books, don’t expect a pat, happy ending. However, at least it was satisfying enough that I wasn’t screaming in frustration (as has been the case with others). I am looking forward to continuing the series.

FTC Disclosure: I have an affiliate relationship with Amazon.com. Some of the links in this post may go to their site. If you purchase something using that link, I may receive a small compensation. I am never paid to review books and am always brazenly honest (ask my husband). Thank you!© Jan McClintock of We Need More Shelves

In categories Book Review, Science-fiction Tagged with e-book, science-fiction

Review: Take Her For A Ride: A Hollywood Story

By Jan

on June 9, 2013

Take Her For A Ride: A Hollywood Story by Steven M. Painter

Genre: Historical Novel

This is a true Hollywood book, including the bright lights of the movie studio back lots and the back streets of depression-era America. The time is 1930, when the studios held all the power, and starlets came from all over the country to try to make it in the movies.

Paul Russell is a successful producer, working for an almost-broke studio. Lillian Nelson is a young actress trying to make it on her own. Their romance is tense, brokered at times by Paul’s secretary and Lillian’s roommate, Vera. Among the other characters are obnoxious studio executives, temperamental directors, and actors who are bizarre, freewheeling, nasty, and even kind.

Quite a few “real” people are either characters or make cameos in the book, and I’m sure they must be authentic as far as history can determine, because the author is extremely well-educated in this era and in film history. His passion for the subject is obvious in the time he spent with his book.

The writing is very good, including descriptions that are, for the most part, not overblown or underworked. The third-person point of view is fine, although most of the book concerned Paul; I think it could have been told from his point of view, too. The technical aspects of the book were good and I found very few errors in my ebook version.

My only objection—and I admit it is a big one—is that the characters didn’t project any real feelings. They do things, they say things, but we aren’t privy to what’s in their minds. Mr. Painter could have taken advantage of that third-person POV to get into the heads of all of the characters, but instead, we don’t know why they do or say things.

Consequently, I didn’t like any of the characters very much. A character-driven story like this one should include people to whom readers can relate (good or bad). I personally wasn’t feeling much for either Paul or Lillian, and I believe that is because I didn’t know what they felt.

Overall, I enjoyed the story but wish I knew (and liked) the characters better. I hope Mr. Painter keeps writing about the subject.

In categories Book Review, Historical Novel Tagged with e-book

Review: Fourteen Western Stories

By Jan

on June 9, 2013

Fourteen Western Stories by Lloyd Fonvielle

The description from Amazon.com:

“Fourteen Western tales, by turns boisterous, bawdy, shocking, sentimental. They’re not for kids—there’s a fair amount of adult content here—but a treat for anyone else who likes old-fashioned stories with new twists and turns, written by someone who loves the West, past and present.”

That’s an excellent description of this little treasure of a collection. I found each of the stories well-written and interesting. The author did include some stereotypical characters, but he’s a screenwriter, after all, and fond of pulp fiction (wink). He added a new slant to some stories to keep things hopping. Definitely not for the squeamish or prudes.

Recommended for short-story lovers, those who like westerns, and anyone who falls in between.

In categories Book Review, Historical Novel Tagged with e-book, short story, western

Review: The Other Alexander by Andrew Levkoff

By Jan

on March 6, 2013

Description from the Author:

The Other Alexander is the first book in the epic trilogy, The Bow of Heaven. Alexandros, a young Greek philosophy student, is wrenched from a life unlived to submit to the will of an empire – as a slave of Rome. In a world without choice, he must use his cunning and wits to gain the trust of one of the most powerful men in the Republic.

Yet no matter how high he climbs, or how deeply he falls in love, Alexandros’ life is still bound to the will of another. When his master becomes blinded by revenge, the fates of both owner and owned become slaves to a terrible choice. A choice which will threaten the very life of the empire one has ruled, and the other has been forced to serve.

My Review:
I enjoy novels set in the ancient world, not only because I find history fascinating but because it can be very educational, too. It is up to the author to decide how much research goes into his book and how authentic he can (or wants to) make it based on what we know of the past. Sometimes the story is more important than the history, and thus the reader must be careful to understand the difference.

In The Other Alexander, the story and the history are blended very well. The settings are wonderfully described and the characters are mostly believable. I doubt the real Crassus was as kindhearted and tolerant as portrayed in this book, but I’m willing to set that aside for a great tale, and this is one.

Fortunately, the story is relatively simple and the number of characters is kept to a minimum, while allowing for enough variety of personalities and ethnic diversity to keep it interesting. The conflicts are universal and deeply moving. We care about the people and want to know the outcome.

Speaking of outcomes, the author chose the perfect ending for this first of three books: you will want to continue but will not be hanging by a thread. Having now read the second book, I can say the same about that one. I am eagerly awaiting the third novel.

Highly recommended for readers of historical fiction.

In categories Book Review, Historical Novel Tagged with e-book, historical fiction

Ebooks: Quality and Price

By Jan

on February 17, 2013

I felt I had to reply to a comment I saw on Amazon.com recently. The situation was this: a new, non-fiction book was being “reviewed” and one of the commenters gave it one star. It’s impossible to give anything lower on Amazon.com. The reasoning was that the price of the Kindle version of the book was too high.

Most commenters probably agreed that it was overpriced. However, the commenter hadn’t even purchased the book, and it was agreed that it was poor form to slight the price in that case, as the bad rating went against the overall quality of the book using Amazon’s rating system. The star rating — as it applies to books — is usually reserved for rating the contents and whether the reader liked or disliked the publication.

One commenter wrote the following while discussing this issue: “It costs very little to make an ebook. For amazon’s Kindle, one need only to upload the book in Microsoft Word format and upload a picture of the cover of the book, and perform a few odds and ends and you are set to go – no production costs after that, no worry about printing too many copies, etc.”

My answer to at least this statement follows:

“In reply to [reviewer’s name], it’s not as easy as “perform(ing) a few odds and ends” to prepare a book to be published in the correct format for the Kindle — or any other ebook. I’m an editor and I create ebooks for clients, so I know of what I speak.

If you are a regular reader of ebooks, you’ve seen books which have poor ‘translation’ from the original version, or perhaps were done without proper preparation. Those ebooks have strange paragraph returns, unexplained spacing, remaining page numbers, and countless other anomalies. (That doesn’t count the poor editing that many exhibit!)

Each major distributor of ebooks demands a different format, as well. If ebooks were offered in a standard format across the board, it would be much easier (and less expensive) to publish them. Unfortunately, that is unlikely to happen, as we know in the computer world.

I do agree that prices of ebooks should be lower than that of print books. However, major publishers like Harper still need to make a profit, as do the many, many entities down the line who get a cut of the price, including Amazon and of course, the author (who makes very little from this, I’m sure). BTW, authors have little to do with setting the price if a publisher is distributing the book.

Big publishers are in trouble because of the self-publishing industry, no doubt about it. If buyers — that’s YOU — insist on quality and agree to pay a fair price, then the market will follow, however slowly that happens.”

So, how much are YOU willing to pay for a good-quality ebook? And do you tell other potential buyers when you find one that has very poor editing or formatting?

In categories Uncategorized Tagged with e-book, publishing