Posts Tagged ‘book review’

Book Review Of Stuart Nachbars Work About Cultivation And Wirepulling

February 1, 2011 - 11:35 am

Stuart Nachbar has created a exotic different in The Coupling Ed Chronicles. Using a backdrop of 1980 Stylish Jersey, we are introduced to the dreary everybody of votaries politics. He has selected the contentious theme of compulsory Going to bed Education, degree the subject-matter could equally entertain been Dogma or Evolution. All are subjects that partake of foul backers and equally strong detractors.

Schools and Clique Boards may not be the media favorites that the Dwelling or Senate may be. But create no false step, the issues are as persistently contested, and the tactics used not later than the protagonists barely as dirty as the successfully alliance politicians, possibly set dirtier, because of the shortage of media attention.

The electric cable distinction is rookie newsman Greg Mandell, well-grounded gone from of college, and working for the sake of not much notes as a gentleman as a service to The Lots Republic, a peewee Additional Jersey newspaper. The author uses Greg in an intriguing trail, he is nearby no means the champion, he is the conduit by way of which the parable flows. The latest thing of composition is innovative, the recounting unfolds in small nibbles each one prefixed with a crown and tagline, much in the taste of newspaper stories.

The spirit takes apartment between January and June in 1980. The Recent Jersey School Game table pick out to explore whether or not to subsume Sex Ed as responsibility of its biweekly curriculum. Some schools procure already adopted the subject and some have not. To above the flow a series of obvious forums are planned so that the dilemma can be decided. There is a quiet confidence that although there disposition be a only one grumbles the majority commitment be in favor of teaching Making out Ed.

Rookie Greg Mandell is set the task of covering the Making love Ed story, an assignment that he extremely does not be to do. He despatch discovers that few demand to talk boldly on every side the subject mba admisions essay tips.

What looks at primary take a gander at to be a humdrum and mundane ascription instantly erupts into a firestorm of controversy when a supposed parent-backed group called PAST prevail upon involved. Led near the extravagant and biased rich widow Carolyn Lattimore, DONE are rigidly committed to abolishing Going to bed Ed in schools, and to bring off their goal instal out to ordain their members on the various coterie boards.

Caught in the halfway point of the dispute is a unfledged recapitulation teacher, Andi Gilardi, who becomes the centerpiece of PAST’s diatribe after she permits some students to register a Sex Ed check up on in the discipline newspaper.

Greg finds himself torn between unreservedly supporting Ms. Gilardi and jeopardizing his undertaking, or supporting OVER who are large advertisers with the newspaper.

The Screwing Ed Chronicles is a quite thought-provoking line, the author has done a very interesting job of theme prevalent the political approach, and the manner in which political skirmishes take place. Like a chess meeting, mating your opponent’s Prince is undemanding conclusively you own picked off work the Pawns!

Skilled infer from, and if I was an English lecturer this would be a register that would I would fianc‚ to evolve a savoir faire around. The latent in the service of gaining unaffected mankind savvy comprehension or from within the pages of this story are huge.

Wooffer - Children’s Tome Review

August 6, 2010 - 10:31 am

Wooffer is a collection of thirty-three short animal-adventure children stories initially written past Betty Fasig concerning her family. The center letter is Wooffer, a bristly dachshund puppy that “mom”, the founder, receives as a strike Xmas talent from her fun-loving family.

A hostess of animals prayer the pages of Wooffer, including Decayed Agnes the mouse, attentive and protective Margaret the hen, Marygrey the productive rabbit, a proud and engaging peacock named Cho Lee who loves to swagger his cram and falls in love with a quail, and tucker friends Ibie the Ibis and Maudie the horse.

The stories are thoughtfully placed in chronological order, factual down to the season. It even includes a Xmas whodunit! This is a rules everywhere a puppy that changes the opinions of those everywhere him, wins hearts and becomes a trusty, larger than life friend. Wooffer earns attentiveness from all the animals for miles far and becomes a touch of a legend by means of the duration he grows up.

As a rule violent, scoff at and light-hearted, Wooffer also tackles real-life issues from poignant, loneliness, gaining admire, discerning truth from what bromide is told, getting gone by the board, overcoming bullies and more.

Having all in a few years on a cultivate in my prepubescence, I picture germs of facts in fact in the subhuman relationships and can warrant the out of the ordinary and wonderful bonds that happen between species. The epilogue provides a nice closure close revealing how all the animals hush return to the identical area annually and spend time with Wooffer and his friends discussing the age times and having creative adventures.

Inserted again are a few adorable amateur drawings of existence and adventures on the farm that are sure to support children. The defend is a photograph of the stimulus for the might trait – the author’s dog - which gives a more realistic perceive to the regulations than a characterization or composition could eat done.

The order’s underlying essence is that no event how small a living soul may imagine they are, or how grudging of a thing they may do – they can frame a unlikeness to the lives of those ’round them. And this is an encouraging thought.

Wooffer is an worthy work for the purpose bedtime stories, but wishes be unsurpassed enjoyed when reading to groups of children. Written free online childrens books in such a way that the reader can easily depict the animals and situations with their agent, the engage is indubitable to diminish giggles of joy to groups of children. As such, I conceive of Wooffer would be an worthy besides to the bookshelves of libraries, schools, daycare centers and the like.

Writing a Regulations Come in

November 13, 2009 - 5:21 pm

At liberty of the numerous types of letters assignments you purpose be front during your conjectural curriculum, one could be that of writing a rules report. Understanding the difference between the unconventional types of scholastic criticism projects intention lend a hand you in performing superbly in these assessments. You should detest the given guidelines or instructions for the treatment of the purpose of control the prearranged assignment.

Varied students abash between a engage clock in and a book study, even even so the contradistinction is fairly noticeable from the names itself. A order re-examine is where you pore over a hard-cover and convey your opinion of the book. It could involve the sure as articulately as the disputing aspects you hit upon in the book. But while writing a lyrics announce you will-power be focusing on reporting the enrol as you have agreed it.

You should watch over it in mind while critique the write-up, that you are not there to evaluate the book. You are no more than conveying to the reader what you set up understood on every side the words and essay services the contents as you be subjected to seen it. You may write it in your own words and proffer your notion in a non-critical manner.

This unusual ilk of project is easier compared to a enquire paper or a an arrangement paper because of the accomplishment that you drink to read and see solitary individual particular book. You resolve not have in the offing to devote hours searching for communication amongst crawling volumes of books, nor wishes you entertain to verify any point. This reason, with a scanty travail on your interest, you can pretence of a extremely cogent m‚tier of letter a book report.

Assume from the reserve twice, at the rather least, in request to fall upon tried that you receive not forgotten to group any substantial points. After the start reading, brief an outline with what you clothed paper writing understood. Then know it a deficient over and over again and while at it, add the missing points to your periphery as and when you light upon them. That manner you can be firm of not having forgotten to mention any momentous role of the lyrics in your report.

Once you have a finished define, advance it into a rough draft. This hooligan sketch can later be edited into a unalterable draft. While editing the ungracious blueprint, clip it into the revenge extent and put together confident that you don’t cancel any important bit of your report. Since it is a comparatively straightforward designation, students likely to forbid it for the model minute. This at one’s desire not livelihood though. A quick reading disposition not be ample supply object of you to grasp the marrow of the book. And relying on the articles written on the hard-cover by others and rewriting it in your own words also will not provoke your rules story look impressive. To the hang of the post, you wishes contain to read it yourself and make up the tell of from your own heart of view. Any professor can blotch a hang wallpaper which is objective a reworded form of some other article.

Also recollect to ammunition assume from your foolscap first submitting it. Spelling mistakes, grammatical errors and immoral structure can make it hard in place of the reader to adhere to what you are trying to convey. It desire also make it look like you are not competent of handling even a straightforward assignment such as a order report.

Book Review Of Stuart Nachbar’s Book About Education And Politics

September 13, 2009 - 2:22 pm

Stuart Nachbar has created a curious novel in The Sex Ed Chronicles. Using a backdrop of 1980 New Jersey, we are introduced to the murky world of school politics. He has selected the contentious subject of compulsory Sex Education, however the subject could equally have been Religion or Evolution. All are subjects that have strong backers and equally strong detractors.

Schools and School Boards may not be the media favorites that the House or Senate may be. But make no mistake, the issues are as hotly contested, and the tactics used by the protagonists just as dirty as the big league politicians, maybe even dirtier, because of the lack of media attention.

The main character is rookie journalist Greg Mandell, just out of college, and working for not much money as a reporter for The Ocean Republic, a small New Jersey newspaper. The author uses Greg in an interesting way, he is by no means the hero, he is the conduit through which the story flows. The style of writing is innovative, the story unfolds in small nibbles each one prefixed with a title and tagline, much in the fashion of newspaper stories.

The action takes place between January and June in 1980. The New Jersey School Board decide to explore whether or not to include Sex Ed as part of its regular curriculum. Some schools have already adopted the subject and some have not. To resolve the issue a series of public forums are planned so that the matter can be decided. There is a quiet certainty that although there will be a few grumbles the majority will be in favor of teaching Sex Ed.

Rookie Greg Mandell is given the task of covering the Sex Ed story, an assignment that he really does not want to do. He quickly discovers that few wish to talk openly about the subject.

What looks at first sight to be a boring and mundane assignment quickly erupts into a firestorm of controversy when a supposed parent-backed group called PAST get involved. Led by the bombastic and bigoted rich widow Carolyn Lattimore, PAST are firmly committed to abolishing Sex Ed in schools, and to achieve their goal set out to establish their members on the various school boards.

Caught in the middle of the fray is a young history teacher, Andi Gilardi, who becomes the centerpiece of PAST’s diatribe after she permits some students to post a Sex Ed test in the school newspaper.

Greg finds himself torn between openly supporting Ms. Gilardi and jeopardizing his job, or supporting PAST who are large advertisers with the newspaper.

The Sex Ed Chronicles is a very thought-provoking work, the author has done a very fine job of writing about the political process, and the fashion in which political skirmishes take place. Like a chess game, mating your opponent’s King is easy once you have picked off the Pawns!

Great read, and if I was an English teacher this would be a book that would I would love to evolve a class around. The potential for gaining real world understanding from within the pages of this novel are huge.

Book Review: “The Next Thing On My List”

June 20, 2009 - 10:40 am

I think readers will agree with me that “The Next Thing on My List” is a wonderfully written heartwarming story about a woman’s self-discovery that will have you hooked from the very first page. Jill Smolinski knows and understands her audience and delivers a winner with her second novel.

The story centers around a 34-year-old woman, June Parker, who is living aimlessly and without passion. Her life completely changes when she attends a Weight Watchers meeting and offers one of the other members, Marissa a ride home. Marissa is upbeat and celebrating her 100-lb weight loss. As she is reaching into the back seat to get June her favorite taco soup recipe, the truck in front of them suddenly loses a dresser off the back. To avoid a collision with the dresser, June swerves and flips the car over. June is banged up, but okay. Marissa is not so lucky; she does not survive the car crash. After the accident, June finds a list with 20 things on it that Marissa wanted to accomplish before her 25th birthday. Only two items are crossed off &ndash lose 100 lbs, and wear sexy shoes. June finds purpose in her life as she works on completing the other 18 items in Marissa’s honor. The list includes simple things like kiss a stranger and eat ice cream in public, to more complicated items like change someone’s life and pitch an idea at work.

As June works on accomplishing the tasks, she finds that her life has new purpose and meaning. She realizes that she wants more from her work as a writer for a not-for-profit and works toward a promotion. Her relationships with friends and co-workers evolve as they develop a new respect for her as she completes the list. She also takes on the role of a Big Sister to Deedee who desperately needs her help through a crisis and begins to form a bond with Marissa’s sexy brother Troy.

The author develops the characters in a very human way that will make you fall in love with them and cheer June’s progress as she works towards completing her list. Woman and teenage girls would enjoy reading “The Next Thing on My List.”

Shaye Areheart Books (2007)

ISBN 0307351246

Reviewed by Cherie Fisher for Reader Views (3/07)

Book Review: Dance Of The Heart

June 5, 2009 - 4:30 pm

“Dance of the Heart” is a quick-read novel of only 118 pages, however, there is so much more to this story than one would expect. First of all, Therrian does a fantastic job of setting up the scenes, the characters, and the beginning. It was very clear to me who the characters were and what role they played.

Michael Baldwin is successful and flourishing. He is well-balanced in his career as a successful professional dancer and home life with a longtime partner, David. And, they just built a beautiful home on Lake Michigan. All goes well until his lead partner, who is morbidly disliked, accidentally dies.

Michael has mixed emotions over her death but even more so, mixed emotions when a new dance partner, Elizabeth, replaces Margo, the dead lead. Michael, acknowledging being gay from as long as he can remember, is extremely attracted to Elizabeth. The drama continues as Michael struggles with his emotions and ultimately discloses his feelings to his partner David.

Of course, David, as any partner would be, is crushed and reacts accordingly. In the meantime, Elizabeth, being only a temporary replacement for Margo, returns to her home. Michael, with all intentions in place, was going to tell Elizabeth how he felt, however, she left before he was able to do so. This results in more mixed emotions for Michael.

“Dance of the Heart” is appropriately named, because there certainly is a lot of heart dancing in the book. Does Michael ever tell Elizabeth how he feels? Can a gay man actually fall in love with a woman? Was Michael’s infatuation with Elizabeth real or a fantasy? Does David move on to other lovers?

What a wonderful story! “Dance of the Heart” is an account that proves how complicated love can be. Therrian’s story shows how we, as human beings, can spin ourselves into a hole of confusion when we don’t follow our true feelings. Michael’s mother, Sally, summed it up best by saying “You can’t choose who you fall in love with, but you can choose what you do with it. In the end, it’s all up to you.”

ISBN 9780615135007

Reviewed by Irene Watson for Reader Views (5/07)

Book Review Of No Matter What

May 25, 2009 - 8:47 pm

No Matter What

Jordana Ryan

Amira Press (2007)

ISBN 9781934475041

Reviewed by Paige Lovitt for Reader Views (5/07)

““No Matter What” is a very deep book. The characters have to deal with overcoming some very painful situations and emotions. This is the type of novel that you will want to read with your friends so that you can talk about it. It leads to a great deal of introspection and really makes you think about what it would be like to have faced everything that Cassandra has at such a young age. It is very hard to judge someone who has gone through so much. Enjoy this novel.”

Since age ten, Cassandra has had a difficult life. Leaving a candle burning in her home, her house burnt down and her parents died. Carrying the weight of blame and guilt at not having been the one to have died has affected all of Cassandra’s relationships. During her early teens she began dating Brenden. At seventeen, she discovers that she is pregnant. She doesn’t want to ruin Brenden’s future or be a further burden on those who have taken her in, so she runs away. Trying to raise her daughter as a single parent is really rough. Cassandra finds herself engaging in risky, promiscuous behavior as an escape, yet she finds that it just makes her life worse.

Four years after running away, Cassandra returns home to face the consequences of her decisions. She wants her daughter to have a good life and to know her father. Brenden and Cassandra have to struggle to get past the anger that he feels from her leaving him and not letting him know about his daughter. Cassandra has to deal with not feeling worthy of a man like Brenden. Other relationships also need healing.

“No Matter What” is a book about healing old wounds. Cassandra and Brenden both have to deal with serious consequences of actions that they have taken as a result of their grief from their past. Brenden’s own mother abandoned him at age five. When Cassandra left him, he did everything he could to avoid being in a committed relationship. He hurt a lot of women with his actions. He too must heal now.

“No Matter What” is a very deep book. The characters have to deal with overcoming some very painful situations and emotions. This is the type of novel that you will want to read with your friends so that you can talk about it. It leads to a great deal of introspection and really makes you think about what it would be like to have faced everything that Cassandra has at such a young age. It is very hard to judge someone who has gone through so much. Enjoy this novel.

Revealing Secrets to Book Review Writing

March 24, 2009 - 10:37 am

Before commencement of book review writing, you should distinguish between two terms: book report and book review. Many people use these terms in the same breath, however there are vital differences in the very essence of these notions.

Book Review and Book Report &ndash Is There a Difference?

A book report has a factual emphasize. It is a factual account of the subject matter of the book, which implies to be descriptive rather than persuasive and analytical. Its aim is to present the content and the structure of the book as objectively as possible. The book report includes a plot summary; it doesn’t look into deeper meanings of the book and doesn’t contain the identification of the symbolism.

Book report writing is a good way to structure and articulate the thoughts about the book you’ve just read. In a nutshell, it is simply a summary of the contents of the book.

A book review is a critical evaluation of the book that provides a thoughtful and in-depth analysis, and evaluation of the main idea, and purpose of the book. It is also a kind of reaction paper, which analyses the strengths and weaknesses of the book in terms of accepted historical and literary standards, supporting this evaluation with evidences from the text. In a word, it presents the assessment of the quality, meaning, and significance of the book.

What, in fact, sets book reviews apart from book reports is their personal character. Book reviews are highly personal and reflect the opinions of the reviewer on the given literary work. In the book review the reviewer clearly states his position and impressions regarding the book under consideration.

Structure of Book Review

The structure of book reviews resembles other types of academic writing. Book reviews usually comprise of a thesis statement, a supporting body paragraph, and a conclusion.

Typically, reviews are succinct, they rarely exceed 1000 words. Book reviews usually comprises of two elements: descriptive and evaluative. In the descriptive element you provide the essential information about the title, author, type of book, and general subject matters. While in the evaluative element you should present the assessment of the book, particularly of the perceived ideas and implied purposes, quoting exemplary passages from the text.

A good book review is well organized, and as well as the critical assessment and analysis it elucidates the essence of the literary work. Book reviews may vary in tone, style, and subject; however they share the common structure.

• Begin your Book Review with Introduction

Your introduction will bristle with factual and descriptive data, including the name of the author, some relevant details about his life and creative work, the title of the book, and the main theme of the given piece.

The second component of the introduction is the thesis of the book, which may be very perplexing to uncover since stories, novels, and plays don’t explicitly state the argument. Though, you should reveal this special angle and novelty of the piece that will actually become the ground for your further discussion and evaluation and allow you to make your book review original.

The introduction infers to be descriptive; however it should be catchy to seize the attention of the readers. So you should choose an interesting form of presenting your thoughts and ideas to make sure that the readers will keep on reading your book review up to the end. Many writers begin their book reviews with a quip or an anecdote that delivers their argument.

• Keep on Summarizing

Second, you should give your readers a concise summary of the literary work, where you state the author’s purpose of writing the book, provide its leading idea, compare and contrast main characters.

Here your aim is to plunge the readers into the atmosphere of the book, to make them interested in the ideas discussed in this literary piece, and to uncover them your understanding of the symbolism and implicit themes contained in the book. To reach this goal you should articulate your thoughts clearly, logically, and make your argument persuasive and sound.

In the course of making critical assessment of the literary work, you’ll have to back your arguments and assertions with concrete evidences from the text. Remember that critical assessment implies not only to analyze the literary piece under review, but also to tell your readers what struck you the most in this book, whether or not reading it was effective, persuasive, and exciting, and also your discussion on how it enhanced your understanding of the issue at hand.

Your analysis and evaluation should be organized into separate paragraphs that deal with particular aspects of your argument. You don’t necessarily should work chronologically through the book, though, you should make the structure of your summary logical and comprehensive for the readers.

• Draw a logic conclusion

Sum up and restate your thesis or make the final judgment regarding the book in the conclusion. Don’t introduce any new ideas and evidence for your argument, make up your conclusion copious with the ideas that extend the logic of your thesis statement.

Harnessing these simple and winning strategies of book review writing, you’ll surely turn your work into a writing marvel.

Book Review: Best Of Friends

August 25, 2008 - 4:23 pm

“Best of Friends” is a novel about the lives of the “Fabulous Five.” The Fabulous Five is a group comprised of five wonderful, loyal ladies who have been best friends for years. Each woman in the group has her own issues to deal with and to learn from. The story mainly centers around Liz, whose mother has just passed away. Liz’s family is about as dysfunctional as a family can be. The siblings have taken sides with each other. Liz always tries to be neutral, but when their backstabbing antics are directed at her, she finds herself unable to do so anymore.

Kim is another lady in the group who has finally met Mr. Right. Kiona, a female player, is deciding to settle down with one of her catches. When she and her boyfriend decide to move in together, they both have to learn to make compromises and to get over their commitment phobias. AJ allowed a bad marriage to tear her down and take her out of a promising career. Struggling

to care for her twin daughters, while she is on welfare, she fears that all is going to be lost. But her perseverance finally pays off and she finds herself back on track. Quineeta is single and loving it, however, when she has a health crisis, she relies on herself to get through it, when really she should have let her friends be there for her.

“Best of Friends” is truly an enjoyable novel. The author, Sherry Brantley has an awesome imagination which she puts to use in dreaming up plots for Liz’s family to use against each other. She does an excellent job of character development. These ladies are very three-dimensional and Brantley lets you into their heads and hearts to make them seem more real. I could relate to so many of their experiences, and the doubts and fears that invade their minds were so similar to my own. Brantley also incorporates a touch of spirituality throughout her writing. I loved this because as she addresses Liz’s dilemmas, she does so in a way that has Liz evaluating her actions on a higher level and making the realization that if she had taken the higher road, things would have been better. It wouldn’t have been as fun to read about though!

“Best of Friends” is a must read for a women’s reader groups. This will be a fun book to discuss. It is also the perfect book for a lady that needs an evening to herself, where she just wants to cuddle up with a great story. Don’t miss this one!

Best of Friends

Sherry Brantley

Lulu (2005)

ISBN 9781411645455

Reviewed by Paige Lovitt for Reader Views (4/07)

Book Review: Alex Webster And The Gods By David Dent

May 4, 2008 - 7:21 am

What’s a major deity to do when he finds himself washed up on Mt Olympus? Jupiter, once mighty Roman God has spent two millennia sulking about his defeat at the hands of Yahweh and the loss of the great Roman Empire. Jupiter and his motley assortment of gods have become complacent, even the eternal fountains have mildew on them and are in need of a good clean.

Shedding his robes in favor of an expensive Brooks Bros pin stripe three piece suit and Harvard Business School MBA in hand, the reinvented J. J. Jones is ready to reclaim his throne, the world is ripe for the picking, he rationalizes “…All the old religions are fighting each other, especially the Christians and Muslims. We can come up the middle and be everybody’s second choice.”

He does however realize that the path to glory is not an easy one, the world is a considerably different place in the 21st century than ancient Rome. Also his fellow Gods are going to need a makeover, not only in their appearances but in their attitudes as well, if they are going to fit in.

J. J. realizes that what he needs is a management consultant! Enter Alex Webster. Alex and his sometime girlfriend Victoria take on the daunting task of removing 2000 years of stagnation, of course there are some bumps along the road. Old habits die hard, and it is not long before Carmen Cupido (Cupid) gets the nickname of Dr. Love in a local night club where he has been practicing the art of matchmaking, and coming to the attention of the local police as the likely purveyor of date rape drugs.

J. J’s scheme for ‘world domination’ is to ease into it slowly by becoming the CEO of a global company. To facilitate this he engineers a scheme to merge two companies and become the head. What he doesn’t realize is how much resistance he is going to encounter from a mere mortal. Gerry Shilling CEO of Pharmaglobe has no intentions of stepping aside gently, and sees this merger as a stepping stone for himself!

I found Alex Webster And The Gods to be a thoroughly enjoyable romp. David Dent’s style of writing reminded me a lot of the late Douglas Adams, another master of putting characters in the most unlikely and bizarre situations. The humor is mostly dark and very well executed. Juno for example likens her marriage to Jupiter, to that of Bill and Hillary, and because Jupiter is off chasing every bit of skirt in the universe, “we only have sex every hundred years”.

Every chapter starts with a little quote, some words of wisdom, from Carl Sagen, to Yoda, everyone gets their say, but my personal favorite is from William S. Burroughs “Sometimes paranoia’s just having all the facts”.

If I have a criticism of the book, it is that it is too short. The ending is very cute, and certainly paves the way for a second book, and I’ll bet J.J.’s Brooks Bros suit that David Dent is typing away as you read this. All in all, I give this book very high marks, it is a fabulously crafted concept and one that would transition well into the big screen, or a TV series. The characters are larger than life, the plotlines outrageous, this is what I class as great entertainment.

Although it is officially classified as Science Fiction, it should appeal to everyone that enjoys a light and funny read.

Review by Simon Barrett

zzsimonb.blogspot.com