Reading Fanatic Reviews
All Nonfiction ReviewsBook Simulator by Chris Yee
Available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iBooks, Kobo, Scribd, Thalia, 24 Symbols, Mondadori, Angus & Robertson, Indigo (Chapters), and Bol.de
Book Simulator*
Odd Little Book!
I am a voracious reader, so I don’t need a book simulator to make it look like I’m reading. Because I am actually usually… reading. The first part of the blurb made me almost give a pass to this book, but a line in the second part made me decide to give it a try. “While it pokes fun at various aspects of reading, it also celebrates the spirit of storytelling and encourages the exploration of future stories to come.” As someone who loves to read, I thought I would see how this book would celebrate storytelling with humor. The book is definitely tongue-in-cheek and makes attempts at humor, but for me, these fell flat. I didn’t really see any evidence about how this book celebrated anything, whether reading or storytelling. The book is certainly quirky and unusual, but it didn’t quite do it for me.
Emotional Intelligence Handbook by Stuart Banks
Available at Amazon only
NOT with Kindle Unlimited
Emotional Intelligence Handbook*
Not Quite What the Title Says It Is
I think this book bundle is inaptly named. Only the first book in this 2-book bundle is specifically about emotional intelligence; the other book is about procrastination. Personally, I don’t think that self-discipline or procrastination have anything to do with emotional intelligence. The introduction to the book on emotional intelligence let me know that the way the author perceives and defines emotional intelligence is different than the way I do. You might want to take a quick look at the book’s intro and table of contents to see if his vision of it resonates with you. It did not with me. This first book in the bundle is well organized given his take on the topic, but I do question his inclusion of chapters on positivity and mindfulness. It makes me think that the author is grasping at other popular pop-psych buzzwords to bolster what could be seen as an inadequate take on emotional intelligence. There definitely are a few tiny nuggets of interest in this book, but most of them don’t really have to do with emotional intelligence. Some of his discussion of what he said was EI, too, didn’t really seem to be about EI. Again, rather, they were more about general pop-psych topics that were only peripherally about EI.
The second book is actually called the Mastery of Self-Discipline, but you will note that I stated above that it is about procrastination. To me, that is what the book seems to be more about rather than self-discipline. I think if a book is about a topic, an author shouldn’t prevaricate. Call it what it is! Again, there are interesting little nuggets here, but little that has not been talked about in other books about procrastination.
Graze by Paul Dowling
Available at Amazon only
Free with Kindle Unlimited
Graze*
Uneven Collection of Recipes
There is a multiplicity of ideas out there currently about the best ways to eat healthfully. One of the concepts is grazing, which means to eat small, frequent meals throughout the day. This book purports to be a collection of recipes that will assist you if you want to follow that eating practice. I found this book to be an odd combination of recipes. Compared to later meals, there is a LOT of breakfast recipes. While I love a good breakfast recipe, that’s just one meal. Given that you’re meant to eat more than three meals a day if you graze, it seems odd to split a recipe book on the topic into the traditional three-meal structure. (Odd, too, that the author was VERY specific about the times of lunch and dinner in the Table of Contents.) Maybe split it into times of the day or group likes together (egg dishes, chicken dishes, soups, etc.). Most of the breakfast recipes themselves seemed either relatively simple or like any generic recipe of the type that one could find on the internet (like mug recipes or McMuffin variants). Sometimes, a recipe seemed nonsensical, like pasta salad for one. Pasta salad is definitely a dish that improves with age, so why not make it easier on yourself as a grazer and make a large batch that you could enjoy over the course of several days? That is one of the problems with many of these recipes; part of the difficulty of grazing is having to make so many dishes. Some in this book, especially in the lunch and dinner portion, are quite complex. I couldn’t imagine making four, five, or six of these recipes in a day. All I would be doing was cooking!
The recipes themselves seemed to have no consistency in format. Some recipes use imperial measurements while others use metric ones, both for quantities and oven temperatures. To make the recipes the most useful to a broad audience, each recipe should have both forms of measurement, but I would just be happy with consistency.
The book is mostly recipes. There is a very brief introduction that in places just seemed odd. For instance, here is a quote from it where I can’t really figure out the meaning the author was intending because something was left off the second half of the sentence: “After eating, you should feel satisfied and before you graze again, you want to feel, without regret.” All in all, I don’t see how this is necessarily a book that will help people who want to graze as a healthful eating technique.
How to Be F*#%ing Amazing by Deborah Lucero
Available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iBooks, Kobo, Google Play, 24 Symbols, Thalia, Mondadori, Angus & Robertson, Indigo (Chapters), and Bol.de
How to Be F*#%ing Amazing*
A Little Too Much of Author’s Story in Self-Help Book
I am drawn to self-help books as I am curious about other people’s insights into life, and I found myself intrigued enough to want to find out what this author might offer as her healing insights. The book comes from a 70-day course that the author has. The author has been through much in her life, and we learn a lot about that in this book. While I think that the author’s life should be reflected in an intensely personal book like this, I think that her story actually overshadows her insights. Each insight starts with her own story about it, which is usually quite lengthy with a fair amount of graphics and somewhat overshadows the rest of the information contained in the insight. Some of the insights themselves didn’t seem particularly “insightful.” After some initial paragraphs on thought, beliefs, and hope, the book is divided into 5 main chapters that contain the healing insights: detox, releasing emotions, mindset, reprogramming your mind, and exercise/physical activity. To me, the sections on mindset and reprogramming overlap greatly; I didn’t quite see the distinction she was trying to draw. I think this book would have been better if the author had taken herself out of it just a little bit. Again, her story seems to overwhelm the insights.
Global Career by Michael T. Swigunski
Available at Amazon only
Free with Kindle Unlimited
Global Career*
Be a Global Citizen
If you’ve ever thought about studying or working abroad, this book is jam-packed full of personal experiences, information, and tips about how to do so. The author has lived and worked all over the globe, and this book is a distillation of all that he has learned. He does give some straight-up facts as well as share his personal experiences. I think this book would be particularly helpful for people under 30, as there are far more options for younger people to live and work abroad. The United States has reciprocal agreements with several countries for working holiday visas. But the author does give some other pointers that could apply for people who are north of 30, including how to work for an American company remotely. The book is laid out well. The first chapters deal with studying, interning, and working abroad. Further chapters explore working abroad in more depth, like the visas needed, their requirements and costs. The book ends with chapters on how to live as an expat and traveling tips. All in all, if this is something you are considering, this book will make the possibilities seem more real and point you in the right directions if it is something that truly interests you.
Dominating with Content Marketing by Michele Da Silva
Available at Amazon only
Free with Kindle Unlimited
Dominating with Content Marketing*
Some Information, No Dominance
I have been marketing various businesses for over 20 years, so I’m always interested in different books that come out about marketing. I know that content marketing is a buzz phrase that is used a lot right now, so I wanted to delve more deeply into the topic. I’m a big nonfiction reader, and I will admit that I hold nonfiction writers to a rather high standard. I believe that a nonfiction book needs to deliver on the promise of its title and subtitle. The author has given herself a rather large task with both, as the titular idea of dominating a particular field requires a very high level of expertise and work; the subtitle, too, promises a lot: that you will gather more leads and sales for less money.
Setting such a high bar for herself, the author did miss the mark with this book. You will definitely learn about content marketing as well as more specific information about six particular types. But I don’t get the sense from this book of how one can dominate with content marketing, or you can how you can actually get better results, leads, or make more sales. That connection wasn’t truly drawn in the book. I thought that some of the examples given of fictional people went on for too long and didn’t really add much to the information provided. The book is good with definitions and descriptions, but the tasks given in the chapters fall short of truly aiding the reader to create these pieces of content marketing because the details are too sketchy for someone who has never made them. In the introductory chapter on content marketing, the author talks about quite a few different types that she doesn’t address, some of which could have at least been explained briefly, with perhaps resources given if that interests you. The author also missed several different types of content marketing. At best, this book will whet your appetite to learn more about marketing-based content creation, but it won’t truly help you create it. Therefore, you cannot dominate your niche with the knowledge that you will glean from the contents of this book.
A Map for Wild Hearts by Andrea Hannah
Available at Amazon and Barnes & Noble
A Map for Wild Hearts*
An Odd but Lovely Journey into the Heart of Creativity
This will probably sound weird, but I chose this book at my favorite book review site because I was perplexed by its description. I couldn’t really tell what the book was about from the blurb or the title and subtitle, so I was curious about what the book actually contained. In this book, the author leads you through making a physical map that expresses aspects of you and your creative bent. In the first part of the book, she goes over the obstacles to creativity. Once those shackles are off, she hopes to lead you on a creative journey of self-discovery that will help you in your future creative endeavors. It is a little hard to explain because the whole book is very right brained; the logical part of my mind is having a hard time pulling together all that this book is and what it intends to do. The author shares many personal stories throughout the entire book and provides a blueprint for making an actual physical map of what creativity means to you. Each main chapter has exercises to get you thinking about various aspects of yourself and the creative process. Even if you don’t want to make a physical map like the book lines out, some ideas she has you think about are worthwhile for anyone who engages in a creative endeavor.
The author doesn’t want to limit the types of creativity that her maps can be applied to, whether you see yourself as a creative making art (visual, literary, etc.), or whether you are just someone who likes to live life creatively (like someone who delights in their beautiful garden). If you see yourself as someone who is creative and would like to play creatively with your creativity :-), you might enjoy this somewhat strange but intriguing book.
Autophagy Fasting with Water for Beginners by Jason Berg and Eric Fung
Available at Amazon only
NOT with Kindle Unlimited
Autophagy Fasting with Water for Beginners*
A Hot Mess
This book is a hot mess. One look at the table of contents will reveal that the book is all over the map. The book is definitely repetitive in places, and the structure does not follow a logical pattern. With a topic like this, the book should open with a good background section which should be followed by a clearly defined method. Instead, here, the initial part is scattered and disorganized. I don’t think they define autophagy quickly enough before they start using it everywhere. Because it is such an unusual word, the author should let the reader know that right away. I thought that the background information should have been structured more cleanly and less repetitively; there are several places where they could have said a concept once instead of over and over in different areas in the text. The authors seem to grapple with the idea of distinguishing regular fasting from autophagy water fasting; this actually happened in several places in the book. These concepts definitely need to be streamlined for the reader. The method that the authors suggest is not all set in one place. It is mostly after the background, but some of it is contained within the initial section as well. There is at least one chapter that should have been split into more to aid clarity. Some statements in the text contradicted each other. The medical claims seem outlandish at times and aren’t backed up with mentions or links to research.
There are definitely some issues with language. For one thing, I think the authors are trying to impress the reader with the use of medical- and scientific-sounding words. It is evident in places that they don’t really seem to understand these terms. I am an RN, and I was surprised to see their description of the medical suffix of “-phagy” as “engulf”; it actually means to digest or to eat. There was at least one place where I just about laughed out loud because what they said was nonsensical: “In Type I and type II diabetes, fasting could aggravate the side effect of diabetes.” Mercy! Diseases have symptoms and complications; medications/drugs have side effects! And which “side effect” of diabetes could fasting aggravate? Aside from these aspects of language, the book is rife with grammatical, punctuation, and usage errors; it seems unlikely that this was self-edited (let alone professionally edited). Words were left in that should have been removed; in other places, words appeared to be missing. The language for the nonscientific jargon part of the text is a bit stilted in a way that makes me think that the authors may not be native English speakers. If you are interested in the topic of water fasting, I think you could find a better book on the subject.
The Magic of Assuming Command by Johnny Welch
Available at Amazon, Kobo, Mondadori, and Angus & Robertson
The Magic of Assuming Command*
Historical Lessons in Personal Mastery
This is a rather intriguing book, that, while not a simple read, is a profoundly engrossing and fascinating one. I think the author overstates the book’s potential in the blurb, but there is much of value here. The author gives us a glimpse of larger than life historical and contemporary figures through the lens of power and personal mastery–how to assume command. The introductory chapter is long but necessary. The author preframes the topics that will be looked at and addressed in the later sections that are actually about the historical and contemporary figures. I like to read and review nonfiction books, so I have often seen modern books on a lot of the topics within this book. I liked seeing the usually historical examples of personal growth and mastery. It is interesting to see the choices and circumstances that made well-known figures who they are/were. We can do well to learn from them, both from their failures and their successes. The book includes a variety of people (mostly men) from different walks of life. Some of the historical figures highlighted in this book are Benjamin Franklin, several presidents, Walter Chrysler, and Tesla. There are even a few stories about contemporary figures, like Steven Spielberg. The author groups several historical or contemporary figures into one chapter under a guiding principle. Some of these guiding principles include seizing initiative, asking for what you want, and authorizing yourself.
The book is not light reading, and I suggest reading it in small chunks. One little point stuck in my craw. I don’t particularly like how the author used the term “hustle” in the book subtitle and in the book proper. It is such a contemporary concept that I am not comfortable with it being applied to historical figures (as most featured in this book are). I’ll admit that History’s Heroes of Hustle, as it states in the subtitle, does have a certain alliterative ring to it, but I think it almost trivializes what the book is about. If you have an interest in history or personal growth, this well-researched (and well-documented) book may be right up your alley.
Forex Trading for Beginners by Bill Sykes and Timothy Gibbs
Available at Amazon only
Free with Kindle Unlimited
Forex Trading for Beginners*
Great Introduction to Forex Trading
While I don’t know a lot about trading currencies, I believe this book is a good initiation for people who are looking to go into that. The authors talk about what Forex is, defining terms and giving a little history. They share the mindset that you need to have to successfully trade in this market, or at least be comfortable with it. They go over the practical ideas, like the different platforms you can trade on and analytical software that you can use to help you figure out your plan. They get down to brass tacks, looking at different ways that you can analyze the market. The book gets completely hands on in the section where they tell you step by step how to set up your first trade. This book is chock-full of easily understandable information that can start you on your way to successful, or at least more informed, Forex trading.
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