Leslie C. Halpern Collects Her Best Columns on Life and Entertainment Industry

Scantily Clad Truths

Subtitle: Essays on Life with Clothes (and without)

Author: Leslie C. Halpern

Cautious Optimist Publishing 2018

ISBN: 9780999376331

Genre: Essays/Memoir

Contact Reviewer: HoJoNews@aol.com

Rating: 5 of 5

                  From Bill Cosby to “Homeless and Sexy” 

 

Veteran Journalist Shares Memories 

True to journalistic ethics, here, a disclaimer. I started out in journalism. Printers ink has colored my thumbs (and given me asthma) since I first wrote kitschy columns for my high school newspaper, and I loved fashion and New York even in its grittier days when I was a publicist for the firm that developed the “10 Best Dressed List” and ogled the samples of Christian Dior samples in the stockpile of “props” the business kept for photo shoot emergencies. 

Perhaps this disclaimer explains why I was hooked from the first moment I heard the title of Leslie C. Halpern’s slim book Scantily Clad Truths. Add that to the amazing list of media outlets Halpern has written for and this provocative teaser on the back cover of the book: “What really happened when this young entertainment journalist in a sexy gold dress rode the elevator with Bill Cosby?” and I was ready to have some fun. 

It turns out Scantily Clad was not quite what I expected. It was much more. Call it a memoir of a journalist presented in a permanent collection of her best material. Bit by bit, a reader becomes familiar with Halpern. Her exceptional sense of detail. Her humor. Her occasional bravery about drawing conclusions about life as she explores life-altering anecdotes. And, yes. They somehow all have something to do with clothing from Mary Lou’s red lace panties to Homeless and Sexy’s no-shirt-at-all.

Because Halpern had to select only the columns and essays that fit with her theme, it made me wonder how many more books are to come. Halpern’s work is easy to read, refreshing. Most of us probably need her gentle take on life and humor in these political times.  

MORE ABOUT THE REVIEWER

Carolyn Howard-Johnson is a multi award-winning author of fiction, poetry, and nonfiction. Her HowToDoItFrugally series of books has helped writers and retailers worldwide. She runs this blog with lots of generous contributions from Carolyn Wilhelm and Lois W. Stern. 

MORE ABOUT THIS BLOG AND GETTING REVIEWS AND ANOTHER FREEBIE

 The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. Of particular interest to readers of this blog is her most recent How to Get Great Book Reviews Frugally and Ethically (http://bit.ly/GreatBkReviews ) that covers 325 jam-packed pages covering everithing from Amazon vine to writing reviews for profit and promotion. Reviewers will have a special interest in the chapter on how to make reviewing pay, either as way to market their own books or as a career path--ethically!

This blog is a free service offered to those who want to encourage the reading of books they love. That includes authors who want to share their favorite reviews, reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure, and readers who want to shout out praise of books they've read. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page. Reviews and essays are indexed by genre, reviewer names, and review sites. Writers will find the search engine handy for gleaning the names of small publishers. Find other writer-related blogs at Sharing with Writers and The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor.

Note: Participating authors and their publishers may request the social sharing image by Carolyn Wilhelm at no charge.  Please contact the designer at:  cwilhelm (at) thewiseowlfactory (dot) com. Provide the name of the book being reviewed and--if an image --isn't already part of the badge, include it as an attachment. C. Wilhelm will send you the badge to use in your own Internet marketing. Give Carolyn the link to this post, too! 

Compulsive Reader Humorous How-To Business Book

Ain’t U Got No Manners?

By Kristin Johnson

A Vegas Publisher

Release: Dec 2016

ISBN: 978-0-9968437-4

Reviewed by Magdalena Ball first published by CompulsiveReader.com

 If you’ve never given a thought to digital manners, you clearly aren’t alone. One of the hallmarks of online interactions is speed - usual grammar and punctuation rules often don’t apply, but our world is becoming increasingly digital, and while the online world may look like a wild-west, the way you conduct yourself, particularly on social media, is critically important. It’s easy to forget how recent a phenomena our technological proliferation is. As Kristin Johnson reminds us, digital technology has been in popular use for less than twenty years. However, in that time the growth of social media has been exponential, particularly as more portable tools for access, such as the smartphone, have become ubiquitous. It’s easier to get hold of our kids, family and friends via messaging than via the telephone. Even our music listening and reading are starting to be piped in live through network enabled apps like Spotify or reading apps like Kindle and iBooks that instantly link up with our networks and share our preferences and activities.

Ain’t U Got No Manners is not only a complete guide to behaving with grace and charm online, it’s also entertaining and funny. The book provides extensive information on presenting your best self online. The writing is light, crisp and easy-to-read, and the many sidebars, symbols, stories, and takeaway points after each chapter ensure easy comprehension, even for readers with online attention spans. Despite the relaxed, humorous and conversational tone, the subject is serious.  With Facebook, Instagram, Google (including its search engine), Twitter, Snapchat, Skype and email all linking up, nearly everything that goes online is more or less in the public domain. An ill-thought through or offensive post can get you fired, can wreck your home life, can lose you friends, and even get you arrested. Like any good advice, much of the book is common sense: “When in public, act as if you’re on camera, because you just might be.” That said, it’s surprisingly easy to forget this, or not taking it seriously enough, while scrolling and commenting in the seeming solitude of your living room. 

Aint U Got No Manners is full of anecdotes, from fake Facebook fundraisers, employees who were fired after posting silly pictures, or the woman whose thoughtless Twitter post went viral while she was in an airplane and by the time she landed she was a notorious pariah. Johnson has done her research well. There are also tips on how to minimise the impact of social media overload, handing texts (and “textually transmitted diseases” - I particularly liked the texting takeaways in text language), navigating Twitter, including one of my favourite sections, the #dailysins of Twitter (7 deadly examples in hashtag form), commenting, how not to be a troll, dealing with online meanness, internet dating, public shaming, posting video, SnapChat, photo etiquette (including selfies), and lots more. Put simply, Aint U Got No Manners is a must read for the Internet age: a book as enjoyable as it is informative. The book should be part of every school’s curriculum. If you take away nothing more than #think (before you…), then it will be worth the price of the book.

MORE ABOUT THE REVIEWER

Magdalena Ball is a poet and novelist. She owns the review Web site, Compulsive Reader  and edits its newsletter packed with suggestions for literate reading. It is recommended in How To Get Great Book Reviews Frugally and Ethically (http://bit.ly/GreatBkReviews).

MORE ABOUT THIS BLOG

 The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. It is a free service offered to those who want to encourage the reading of books they love. That includes authors who want to share their favorite reviews, reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure, andreaders who want to shout out praise of books they've read. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page. Reviews and essays are indexed by genre, reviewer names, and review sites. Writers will find the search engine handy for gleaning the names of small publishers. Find other writer-related blogs at Sharing with Writers and The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor.

Reviewer in wordy, nerdy heaven!

Teatime with Mrs. Grammar Person
By Barbara Venkataraman

Genre: Language & Grammar  
ASIN: B00RUQY6B6

Available on Amazon
Five-Stars for Kindle edition 

 

Reviewed by D. A. Sarac of The Editing Pen

Oh the joy, the delight, the thrill of perusing these beautiful pages. Reference information with character. Lessons with spunk. And a sweet little story going on in the background. Which is my favorite? The one in verse (truly amazing) or the language of love--or the one about malapropisms? Get your sticky notes ready and brew some tea. What a find. I'm in heaven. I'm in nerdy, wordy heaven.

 

 

 

THE BLURB

 Fear not, Gentle Writer, Mrs. Grammar Person is here and she has the answers to all of the questions you never thought to ask. As a dedicated and serious grammarian, she will do what it takes to be entertaining and enlightening, but never vulgar or coarse. Heavens, no! Where are her smelling salts? Warm and witty, Mrs. G.P. makes grammar interesting with rhyming, wishful thinking, story-telling and a champagne toast. You are cordially invited to join her for a spot of tea!

 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Learn more about Barbara Venkataraman at  www.barbaravenkataraman.blogspot.com. She is author of the Jamie Quinn Mystery Series & the “Quirky Essays for Quirky People” Series, three-time winner of the “Indie Book of the Day” Award, anHonorable Mention in the Readers’ Favorite Contest for nonfiction humor.

 

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The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. It is a free service offered to those who want to encourage the reading of books they love. That includes authors who want to share their favorite reviews, reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure, and readers who want to shout out praise of books they've read. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page. Reviews and essays are indexed by genre, reviewer names, and review sites. Writers will find the search engine handy for gleaning the names of small publishers. Find other writer-related blogs at Sharing with Writers and The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor.