Tag: self-published book review

Book reviews are a great way for self-publishing authors to gain exposure. After all, how can someone buy your book if he or she doesn’t know it exists? Paired with other elements of your book promotion strategy, requesting reviews is a great way to get people talking about what you’ve written.

When we read good reviews, we definitely like to share them. It gives the author a few (permanent) moments of fame and allows us to let the community know about a great book. Here’s this week’s book review by Midwest Book Review:

The Keya Quests: The Battle for Shivenridge

Glenn Skinner

Publisher: Outskirts Press

ISBN: 9781432773625

Reviewer: Tracey Rock

In this second installment of “The Keya Quests,” the battle with Lord Randar has just ended. Keya, along with Orren, Julie, Grant and Travis have made their way through the portal into Keya’s realm. Many of the villagers are startled at the sight of the undead soldiers walking through Shivenridge, so they are leery of Keya’s claim of freedom and the wielder of the Black Sword who commands the soldiers. They welcome Keya, but with a watchful eye. Knowing this, Orren tells Keya that it is best that they not tell the people of Shivenridge who she really is until they know she can live there safely without harm. Keeping his promise to Keya’s mother, Orren gives Keya a book for her birthday. It is an ancient book of her people. As keeper of the book and successor of the throne, Keya is destined to fulfill the prophecy and free her people. Since she grew up in hiding, Keya has no training and  very little skills of being morthos fairy. She finds help in learning about her people in some unlikely new ways.

As Keya and her friends try to fit in to gain the trust of the people of Shivenridge, Neil Foster, Lord Randar’s lieutenant, is plotting to take back Shivenridge and capture the Black Sword. Knowing that the people of Shivenridge have an uneasy feeling about Keya, they use this weakness to turn the people of Shivenridge against them, leaving them vulnerable for an attack. Keya now must try to use all of her powers to defeat Foster and gain the trust and respect of the people of Shivenridge — or die trying.

In “The Keya Quest: The Battle for Shivenridge,” I liked how the storyline picked up exactly where the first book left off. I was glad to see Keya as a much stronger character, yet at the same time, sad that Orren’s character was minor by comparison in this book, since he had a much larger role in the first book. The book introduces some predictable new characters, which may have more prominent roles in the future, I hope. Grant and Jenny’s characters are surprisingly the most notable, while Julie’s loveable character in the first book seems to turn a bit too motherly and dull. I feel that the storyline seemed almost inevitable given the nature of the first book. The author does provide the reader with some history of Keya’s people, but if you really just like the story itself, I don’t know if it really matters about her history. The characters and storyline can stand up without this, just as the first book did. Readers will more than likely want to continue to follow Keya and her circle of friends as the adventures were non-stop throughout the book. “The Keya Quest: The Battle for Shivenridge” is all to be expected from a sequel: light on storyline, but fun to read all the same.

Book reviews are a great way for self-publishing authors to gain exposure. After all, how can someone buy your book if he or she doesn’t know it exists? Paired with other elements of your book promotion strategy, requesting reviews is a great way to get people talking about what you’ve written.

When we read good reviews, we definitely like to share them. It gives the author a few (permanent) moments of fame and allows us to let the community know about a great book. Here’s this week’s book review by Midwest Book Review:

The Job

Cramer Louis Jackson

Publisher: Outskirts Press

ISBN: 9781432784584

Reviewer: Tracey Rock

An unemployed Joe Jamison has all but given up looking for work, when an envelope addressed to him arrives in the mail requesting an interview. The letter does not give him an address of where the interview is or what type of company they are. He is simply given instructions to check his email. As he scans his emails, he finds the unmistakable email from them, as the subject line reads, “THE JOB.” When he opens the email, there is a detailed map showing how to get to the location site where his interview is to be. Along with the map, there were specific instructions that he was not to tell anyone about the email or the map.

At the secluded interview location, before Joe is given any information about the job, he is asked if he wants to accept the position. Also, if he accepts the position, he will no longer exist ,and he will have to assume a new identity. Although he was caught a bit off guard, he accepts the position and is told from this moment on he will be known as Zann Tanner.

Zann is introduced to General Morgan who sends him off for training, testing and briefing sessions. Once he has been immersed in his work, he learns that the Roswell, New Mexico incident was real and why it was being covered up. The exciting news for Zann is that the spacecraft that landed at Rosewll was going to be flown and that he will be the pilot. Alongside Zann will be a woman named Layone.

Zann and Layone are immediately attracted to each other and begin to have a relationship. As the project moves along successfully, there are others who are interested in the project and will stop at nothing to obtain the potential knowledge and power that can be gained. Now Zann and Layone will need to make choices that will impact their lives and the lives of others.

Please note that “The Job” by Cramer Louis Jackson is only forty-five pages long and has very limited dialog. So, depending on what type of book you are looking for, this will be important. The premise of the story is nice. I believe most people can relate to unemployment and despair and if you enjoy stories about Roswell, then this book has some great touch points also.

This is a good storyline. I just wish there was more to it.

Book reviews are a great way for self-publishing authors to gain exposure. After all, how can someone buy your book if he or she doesn’t know it exists? Paired with other elements of your book promotion strategy, requesting reviews is a great way to get people talking about what you’ve written.

When we read good reviews, we definitely like to share them. It gives the author a few (permanent) moments of fame and allows us to let the community know about a great book. Here’s this week’s book review by Midwest Book Review:

The Big Book of Dan

Daniel C. Dulik

Publisher: Outskirts Press

ISBN: 9781432778590

Reviewer: Charline Ratcliff

Having just finished reading “The Big Book of Dan” by author Daniel C., I’m left wondering what there is to say about it. For starters, it is a compilation of some rather off the wall, eclectic and…eccentric but fairly funny short stories. Dulik has a sense of humor that runs the gamut, and “The Big Book of Dan” is riddled with cynicism, chock full of sarcasm. It also provides a hearty helping of everything else in between.

I’ll be honest. I didn’t find every single story hilariously funny, but “The Big Book of Dan” was, if nothing else, an interesting read from start to finish. Dulik has an extremely dry sense of humor, and, while a few of his tall tales were so dry they were burned, for the most part I enjoyed reading this title. With that said, I think the poems were my favorite, especially “The Narcissist.” Sadly I know a few too many people who have been gifted with that particular…blessing. *chuckle*

Dulik also possesses the fantastic ability to paint pictures using words. Because of this ability, there were several times I found myself cringing as my mind supplied the vivid color images that Dulik’s words so skillfully drew. Oh the horror that the Jimmy Neusbaum recounting invoked! While I never attended Catholic School, I have heard the stories. Of course, these stories are almost always shared in hushed tones after a few alcoholic beverages have sufficiently loosened tongues. It’s almost as if these individuals are worried they will be condemned to purgatory for openly disagreeing with the treatment they received.

So as I continued reading “I Survived! Or Did I?” I idly wondered if Jimmy was merely obsessed with drilling holes in things or if that fifth grade stunt of his was a last-ditch attempt for the elusive “get out of jail free” card. Obviously it worked and…we’ll never know if it was a genius plan or not, since Jimmy was apparently the master of the stare of “utter hopelessness.”

Rather than share more of “The Big Book of Dan,” I’m just going to suggest you pick up your own copy if sharp and sarcastic wit is your cup of tea. I promise that Dulik won’t disappoint.

Book reviews are a great way for self-publishing authors to gain exposure. After all, how can someone buy your book if he or she doesn’t know it exists? Paired with other elements of your book promotion strategy, requesting reviews is a great way to get people talking about what you’ve written.

When we read good reviews, we definitely like to share them. It gives the author a few (permanent) moments of fame and allows us to let the community know about a great book. Here’s this week’s book review by Midwest Book Review:

Sudden Moves: A Young Adult Mystery

Kelli Sue Landon

Publisher: Outskirts Press

ISBN: 9781432767136

Reviewer: Theresa La

“Sudden Moves” is a young adult mystery novel. The novel immediately captures the reader’s interest, just from the short summary on the back of the book. From the first page, the story has a very interesting plot; however, during the middle of the book, the storyline fell a bit flat. This was mainly because the romantic aspects of the story overtook the mystery aspects of the story, just after the mystery was heating up. However, the story soon picked up once again and the ending was interesting and appropriate to the reading level.

Katie Brashers has disappeared after spring break. She told her friends that she was vacationing in Florida but when everyone else returns to school, she does not. No one knows where she is, including Katie’s boyfriend and Michelle Martin, one of Katie’s friends. Michelle and Katie’s boyfriend become amateur detectives of sort.

The characters are average high school students and very believable, which adds to the believability of the story. The book was not very long, only about 207 pages – a good size length, not too short that the reader felt rushed reading the story but not too long that the reader would want to flip pages to find the ending to the mystery more quickly. The cover picture was interesting and fit the story appropriately. This book would be appropriate mostly for preteens and early teens, from twelve to fifteen-years-old, but anyone older who enjoys a light mystery read would also enjoy “Sudden Moves” by Kelli Sue Landon.