Reading Fanatic Reviews
Advice and How To NonfictionHomepreneur by Amanda Brown
Available at Amazon only
Free with Kindle Unlimited
Homepreneur*
Good Information, But Subtitle Doesn’t Match the Content
This book has some reliable, straightforward information about becoming an entrepreneur who is based at home rather than having an office or a store to conduct business. I found the subtitle to be misleading, though, as it states that the book will be about running a home-based business for optimal work-life balance. Very little is actually said about work-life balance. There is a chapter that’s specifically about that, and within a few chapters, there are a few nuggets that could be seen to be about that topic. Really, the book is about setting up a successful home-based entrepreneurial business. I do think that informational nonfiction needs to be super clear and on point; the title and subtitle should actually reflect what is in the book. In this case, it does not, but the book does still have useful information. There were some issues with grammar, punctuation, spelling, and usage, the one jumping out at me at first was a mix-up of waiver and waver.
The book is split into four parts, and the author uses a construction model as a framework for the book. So, the Blueprint section discusses being a home-based entrepreneur in general, the Foundation section goes over key points like finances and routines, the Build section looks at ideas about marketing in a networked world and coping with change, and finally, the Interior Design section has topics that cover mindset, isolation, and habits. All in all, this book is full of good information, but it does not adequately address what it is promised in the title and subtitle.
Lucid Dreaming by Patricia Smith
Available at Amazon only
Free with Kindle Unlimited
Lucid Dreaming*
Elementary, Too-Short Guide
Lucid dreaming is a fascinating concept. Like the author, I had experience with it when I was a teenager, although I didn’t know what to call it at the time. I was having the same bad dream over and over, and at one point, I decided to turn the tables on my attackers in the dream; the dreams ended at that point. The book is rather short, and the subjects listed in the table of contents are not explored in any true depth. I feel like this subject actually needs more exploration to be fully understood and practiced by the reader. The book needed to be more tightly focused on lucid dreaming. At the beginning, there are sections on some of the history of sleep science and psychology that relates to lucid dreaming. In a book meant to help one explore lucid dreaming, that may be interesting information (though it wasn’t necessarily presented so here), but it really doesn’t feel relevant to the main thrust of the book. This book may do as an elementary introduction to lucid dreaming, but I am sure other books explore the subject more fully.
Become an Essentialist by Bill Andrews
Available at Amazon
Free with Kindle Unlimited
Paperback also available at Barnes & Noble
Become an Essentialist*
Tone of the Book is Off-Putting
For a book with a subtitle that starts with “how to,” the bulk of this book talks about the author’s philosophy on essentialism—what it is, why you should do it, how it can make a difference, essential qualities—not the practicalities. The “how to” part takes up only a fraction of the book. When I saw this book on one of my favorite book review sites, I was intrigued by it because the blurb suggested that this book would give information about how to not run yourself ragged (as we tend to do in modern life) and instead focus on what’s important. The blurb itself is somewhat encouraging and inviting. However, I found the tone of the book itself was actually completely different. Throughout all of the book, the author seems to be blaming and shaming the reader for his or her past actions (and possible future ones) in the choices they’ve made in their lives if they don’t follow his concept of essentialism. Honestly, I don’t think people learn the best that way. People should be gently encouraged to try a new system if their old one isn’t working for them, not insulted and belittled as the author often does in this book. In places, too, the author uses some outrageous examples. One of his concepts is that we need to place more value on time so that we will be compelled to use it wisely. In one place, he says something along the lines of, why do something that only pays you $10 a minute if you could be paid $100 for that minute? Who among his readership would be getting paid $10 a minute anyway? It just was an absurd example that jumped out at me. I believe some concepts here are valuable, but I didn’t appreciate the authors strident and belittling tone.
Living Off the Grid by Gary Collins
Available at Amazon, iBooks, Kobo, 24 Symbols, Thalia, Mondadori, Indigo (Chapters), and Bol.de
Living Off the Grid*
Over 50% is from RV Book
Having now read several of this author’s books, I am surprised at how much repetition there is between them. Over half of this book is the exact same as his book on living in an RV. There are additional chapters on things like using solar panels, setting up sanitation, and protecting your property. But this really isn’t that much more than that other book. Though I have never done it, I would think that living off the grid isn’t just about living in a tiny space, getting rid of most of your stuff, and the details like sewage and water. it seems like there could be so much for this author to explore that hasn’t been looked at in his other books.
The 6-Figure Ghostwriter by Matthew Thrush
Available at Amazon only
Free with Kindle Unlimited
The 6-Figure Ghostwriter*
One Long Advertisement
When I saw this book pop up at my favorite book reviews site, the blurb sounded too good to be true, but it caught my attention because I have toyed around with the idea of ghostwriting for some time. I have done a variety of writing both on the job and for the companies I have worked for, and I do enjoy writing. I was hoping this book might be the answer to my questions about how to exactly break into this business. Unfortunately, the book is more of an extended advertisement for the writer’s mentorship and course business that purports to teach you all that you need to know to become a six-figure ghostwriter. The first part of the book is his description of the early days of his ghostwriting business, which doesn’t actually sound too good as he had to put out an obscene amount of words to make his financial goals. Following this most extended description of his early ghostwriting career is a section of testimonials from people who have taken part in his courses or mentoring. The chapters following give a little bit of information, but even this is mixed with healthy doses of more of the author’s backstory and philosophy. There is little that is actionable here, aside from signing up with Upwork for ghostwriting jobs and signing up for the author’s courses. Really, this is just one gigantic advertisement for his “ghostwriting business” business, where he will supposedly help you on your path to your ghostwriting career. I know that lead magnets are often published on Amazon and other outlets, but usually they actually have something to offer the reader beyond the advertisement. Unfortunately, this book does not.
By the way, out of curiosity, I followed some of the links to his courses. The one he gives you a coupon (so you can get it for free) at the end of the book is a dead, 404 link. One of the links to one of his more expensive programs is live, but even the link about his other courses goes to a 404 page. Buyer certainly beware.
The Tidy Guide to Writing a Novel by Rachel Aukes
Available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iBooks, Kobo, Google Play, Scribd, 24 Symbols, Thalia, Mondadori, Angus & Robertson, and Bol.de
The Tidy Guide to Writing a Novel*
Might Help a Real Beginner Get Started
This is a super short guide about how to write a novel. There are only four chapters. The second chapter gives tips for planning, whether you are a plotter or pantser (or somewhere in between, like most of us are); she does this in very broad strokes. In the third chapter, she goes over more precisely what she calls Little Ups as well as more specific information about the novel writing process. Little Ups, I think, is an odd phrase; they’re meant to motivate people to write in short stages, which could give a sense of accomplishment as you fulfill each milestone.
The book does give a thumbnail sketch of one writing process, which may or may not work for every writer. While there are some good tips and hints, it doesn’t feel like there is much substance to the book. You won’t really learn how to write a novel by reading this book, although you may be encouraged to do so. There is nothing really new here hasn’t been talked about in more detail in other books, magazines, and writers’ forums. But if you’re relatively new to writing (or are considering writing a novel), you might find this book is one that can help with your new author mindset and get to you heading in the right direction.
Love Food, Love You by Sally Plevin
Available at Amazon only
Free with Kindle Unlimited
Love Food, Love You*
Book Lacks Needed Resources
The author states that if you follow her 6-week course of action as detailed in the book, you will come to a better place in your relationship with food. The author has a clear understanding of what motivates a too emotional connection to food. She states that her program will help break these emotional bonds and help you create a more normal approach to food. For each week, the chapter is divided into two sections, one section dealing with eating and the other with thoughts and emotions. Each chapter ends with an exercise that is supposed to help get more in touch with ourselves and our bodies. Supposedly, this book was taken from a 6-week course that the author has done live. I felt like most of the chapters were too short. For all the promises made in the first chapters, I didn’t really see how what she promised could be delivered by what was actually contained in the chapters. I haven’t had the time to actually work through all these chapters to actually say if they are efficacious or not. I do like that the author does try to impart that we need to be kind and forgive ourselves. We do tend to beat ourselves up in our relationship with food, only seeing our failings.
I did receive an ARC of this book. The link to the Table of Contents brings me to a blank page. I hope that has been remedied in the book offered for sale. I found another issue as well. The book does have links to her website for the meditations in the book; I am always glad when books with meditations do that. Unfortunately, I believe she recently had a server move or upgrade. I actually had to do a search on the first week’s meditation to find it as I was brought to a File Not Found 404 page when I tried to follow the link given in chapter one. Here’s the link to the currently available meditations for this book: https://www.theliferaft.org/lfly-resources-download. Unfortunately, not all of them are uploaded; except for the intro one, the text for the rest of meditations was not given within the book itself (so there is no way you can do them yourself without downloading them from the website). There’s a brief bring-to-body-awareness meditation mentioned in one of the earliest chapters before the 6-week adventure begins that is not at the website at all; the last three meditations are missing from the website, too. On the page that does contain the available meditations, she states that they are still in the process of moving things over so not everything is there. I run a website or five myself, and it would seem that it would take longer to type that excuse than to actually upload and link the meditations, but maybe that’s just me!
As four of the main seven meditations are actually missing at the website (and three of these four not actually given in the book), I feel like I can’t give this book a good review until these problems are remedied.
If the book had correct links so the meditations could actually be done (or even had all the meditation within the book itself), I would give this book 4 stars. As the book isn’t actually functional without the links, I have given it a one-star review.
Work Ethic: The Lost Credential by Michael R. Hogan
Available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iBooks, Kobo, Scribd, Smashwords, Mondadori, Angus & Robertson, and Indigo (Chapters)
Work Ethic*
Odd Combination of Topics
This book is a strange combination of what should probably be two separate books and one pamphlet. It is split into three sections: work ethic and related ideas, how to get a job, and what do after you have a job (surprise answer here).
The bold line in the blurb suggests that something is inherently wrong with today’s workforce that makes getting and keeping a job difficult. The answer, it would seem, is that we have lost our collective work ethic, and the author purports to address that issue in this book. This rankles me to some degree because I do not see the problems in contemporary business to rest solely on the back of the rank-and-file employee; if workers have abandoned the work ethic (which I do not believe they have), the argument can be made that businesses have abandoned the worker with slash-and-burn policies that are focused solely on the bottom line or covering the company’s posterior.
For a book that is supposedly all about the work ethic, that topic itself is a small fraction of it. Part one of the book does have a small section that is specifically labeled “work ethic” and then goes on to explore what might make that up, like attendance and accountability. I found this section to be rather generic and quite banal. The author made broad, sweeping statements, usually about how terrible workers are, but didn’t back it up with any sort of research or quantifiable facts. Part two gives details on the standard way of getting a job, like a cover letter, your resume, and the interview. Having participated in the job-getting process at various times over the last 30 years, I find his examples to be mired in the distant past. In this age of online job applications, even for higher-level positions, cover letters and resumes are a wholly different beast. Part three seems to come completely out of left field. After all the previous writing in the book had been about being an employee and getting a job, these few throwaway pages seem to be about becoming an entrepreneur.
While I don’t know much about the author beyond what he stated in his Amazon bio, I get the impression that he has been an entrepreneur for a long time, and while he might have worked with businesses, he has not truly been an employee in one for some years. So I don’t think he actually has any great authority to speak on this topic, and this is borne out by what is actually in the pages.
The Simple Life Guide to RV Living by Gary Collins
Available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iBooks, Kobo, 24 Symbols, Mondadori, Angus & Robertson, and Indigo (Chapters)
The Simple Life Guide to RV Living*
Beginner’s Guide to RVing
If you’ve ever considered giving up your home or apartment and living in an RV, this book has information about the different types of RVs as well as tips for RV living. The first third of the book or so isn’t so much about this but more about the author’s take on downsizing your life (perhaps a little repetitious if you’ve read his other books), the history of vehicles and RVs, and his own personal story about taking this path. I found some of this part of the book a little tedious, as I was just wanting to get to the information. The rest of the book, though, is chock-full of information and insights for those who are completely new to the idea of RVing permanently (or those considering doing so). You won’t learn everything you need to know about making this lifestyle leap, but it will give you much food for thought and practical guidelines.
Copy Cocktail by Kerrie Legend
Available at Amazon, iBooks, Kobo, Scribd, 24 Symbols, Mondadori, Angus & Robertson, and Indigo (Chapters)
Copy Cocktail*
Solid Information but Bad ToC and Annoying Theme
As I have several businesses myself, I am definitely interested in creating better copy, so I was drawn to this book. The author does have enthusiasm for writing compelling copy. In this book, she discusses good and bad copy with a lot of examples, both made up and real world. If you’re relatively new to marketing, you will find a lot of useful information that will help you on your path. She even goes into a little about which English rules you can (and should) break and effective use of language in copy. There are lots of numbered lists to give you ideas from topics about figuring out your optimal customer to how to best target them, whether in a headline or on a sales page.
The biggest drawback to this book has nothing to do about its information but its organization. For whatever reason, the author has built up this whole book idea around alcohol and cocktails. I think the metaphor is stretched far too thin and actually becomes a bit tiresome. But it created a bigger problem. To me, the best non-fiction books are very transparent at several points, like the blurb and table of contents. The clear blurb gets me to buy, but well done table of contents not only preframes me for what I’m about to read but can also be the signposts needed when I want to refer back to a particular book topic. It is part of the old “tell him what you’re going to tell him” that is crucial for a non-fiction reader. Unfortunately, the author instead chose to make a table of contents that was more cutesy than practical, with chapter headings that tell you nothing about the content like Mocktail Style Writing and Magic Cocktail Syrups.
That said, I think the book has solid information that can help you with marketing and better copywriting. Just be sure to bookmark the pages that you might want to refer back to because the table of contents will not help you at all in that regard.
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