TITLE: Coming Up For Air
AUTHOR: Rose Mary Boehm
PUBLISHER: The Black Leaf Publishing Group http://www.blackleafpublishing.com/
PAGES: 346
FORMAT: Paperback, Kindle
PRICE: Paperback: $18.71 (US), £14.24 (UK), Kindle: $9.99 (US), £7.46 (UK)
ISBN-10: 1907407073
ISBN-13: 9781907407079
This is the story of Anne Marie Becker who grew up during World War II. She was only two-years-old when the bombs started falling. As the author states, part of this novel is fiction, part fact and part autobiographical. In any case, Coming Up For Air is a hard book to put down.
Through her excellent writing, Ms. Boehm transports us right into the war and shows us all the horrors and atrocities that happened then. As we watch Anne Marie grow up we experience her first love and then date rape. When she is old enough to get a job, older men have some particular ideas. Rose Mary doesn’t just describe to us what happens; she shows us in such detail that we experience everything that Anne Marie goes through!
This page turner just isn’t a story of growing up through that terrible war either. It’s a story of growing up fast and finding your own freedom. It’s about shaking off the chains of a previously rigid existence, coming up for air, taking a deep breath and finding your own life.
This reviewer was transported back to live through that terrible time. I highly recommend Coming Up For Air to all young adults and adults.
About the Author
Ms. Boehm was born in Duisburg, Germany and is a German born UK national. She now resides in Lima, Peru but she’s more than a writer! Rose Mary is also a photographer, painter and a copywriter.
If you would like to learn more about Rose Mary Boehm, please visit her book blog at: http://www.coming-up-for-air.com/ . If you would like to read the first 24 pages of Coming Up For Air please follow this link: http://bit.ly/aFdnzA .
About the Reviewer
Deb Hockenberry blogs at http://thebumpyroadtopublishing.blogspot.com/, and http://debsbookreviews.blogspot.com/
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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. As a courtesy to the author, please tweet and retweet this post using this little green retweet widget :
This blog, #TheNewBookReview, is "new" because it eschews #bookbigotry. It lets readers, reviewers, authors, and publishers expand the exposure of their favorite reviews, FREE. Info for submissions is in the "Send Me Your Fav Book Review" circle icon in the right column below. Find resources to help your career using the mini search engine below. #TheNewBookReview is a multi-award-winning blog including a MastersInEnglish.org recommendation.
Friday, January 21, 2011
Thursday, January 20, 2011
Award-Winning Journalist's Memoir a Minefield
Minefields of the Heart
: A Mother’s Stories of a Son at War
By Sue Diaz, http://www.minefieldsoftheheart.com/
Memoir
ISBN 978-1-59797-515-5
Reviewed by Chuck Leddy for the Christian Science Monitor, www.csmonitor.com
Several visceral, difficult-to-forget books, like David Finkel’s “The Good Soldiers” and Dexter Filkins' “The Forever War,” have chronicled the daily bravery, fear, and pain of American troops in Iraq as they struggle with the enemy, the meaning of their mission, and the loneliness of being away from home. Few books, however, have examined the pain of those loved ones on the home front, the people who stay up late worrying about a soldier’s well-being. Sue Diaz’s absorbing and intimate memoir Minefields of the Heart looks at a mother’s relationship with her soldier son (Roman) as he spends two deployments fighting in Iraq.
Award-winning journalist Diaz, at home in San Diego, reads and watches the news about Iraq every day, trying to understand what her son is going through. She realizes that he could be killed any second, and there’s little she can do about it. She’s compassionate enough to understand that this possibility of instantaneous loss extends to all families of soldiers: “A young private takes a bullet; back at home his father’s heart bleeds. A soldier loses a leg; his wife struggles in the days that follow to simply keep putting one foot in front of the other. A sergeant’s eardrum is perforated [something that happens to Roman]; his mother hears the explosion in her dreams, time and time again.”
Diaz goes back in time to explore her son’s early life. She admits to having been overprotective at times. She tells of his first day of school, of family trips, of the many ways she worked to nurture and protect her boy. Once he’s in Iraq, exposing himself to combat, her worries justifiably deepen: “I couldn’t help but be aware of the physical dangers that surrounded him [and also] ... the toll that war can take in other ways. The invisible shrapnel that tears up souls, lodges in memories, hardens hearts, wounding in ways no one there can see nor the rest of us really understand.”
It would be wrong to think that Diaz sentimentalizes her relationship with her soldier son. Her book is unblinkingly determined to dig deep, to ask big questions and move toward the answers. She’s also wise enough to see far beyond her own worries, to ask if the sacrifice of so many young soldiers has been worth it: “We as a country lose,” she says, “when even one of them falls.” The mother in Diaz competes with the journalist in her, and the book benefits mightily from this unique combination of heart and head. As Diaz focuses her lens on Roman, she simultaneously widens it to encompass all families of Iraq soldiers. While she loves her son, she’s against the war.
She knows that combat will forever change Roman, and misses her boy: “I wished it were possible to somehow catch and hold again the innocence that was once ours. To grasp, in more ways than one, what we had when we had it.” Part of what Diaz learns is how to let go, but it’s never easy. Diaz offers us her son’s letters home and describes his visits on leave. She sees him changing, becoming physically and mentally stronger. She rightfully worries about some of what he’s learning, like “what it feels like to be awakened by the whistle of falling mortars, to hoist a heavy machine gun in the searing heat, to be looking in the rear-view mirror of the Humvee you’re riding in and see the one behind you disappear in a fiery flash.”
Diaz feels her heart thumping when an officer calls to inform her that Roman has been injured by an improvised explosive device. His injuries aren’t life-threatening, but Roman is also forced to confront the deaths of 10 of his comrades. When communicating with his mom, Roman tries to minimize the horrors of war, but she knows enough to see through it; and she’s strong enough not to force him to share more than he wants to.
Diaz’s memoir provides unique insights into the challenges faced by military families. Diaz’s emotional honesty is matched by her stellar writing: her prose is polished and, at times, achieves a quiet, soaring lyricism. In the end, Roman comes home. But his war is far from over, writes Diaz: “he’s been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder ... and traumatic brain injury.” Roman has difficulties remembering, but he’s getting treatment. As Diaz puts it on the final page: “There are battles he has yet to fight ... these things, I know, take time.” Both mother and son have been through more than they expected, or wanted.
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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. As a courtesy to the author, please tweet and retweet this post using this little green retweet widget :
: A Mother’s Stories of a Son at WarBy Sue Diaz, http://www.minefieldsoftheheart.com/
Memoir
ISBN 978-1-59797-515-5
Reviewed by Chuck Leddy for the Christian Science Monitor, www.csmonitor.com
Several visceral, difficult-to-forget books, like David Finkel’s “The Good Soldiers” and Dexter Filkins' “The Forever War,” have chronicled the daily bravery, fear, and pain of American troops in Iraq as they struggle with the enemy, the meaning of their mission, and the loneliness of being away from home. Few books, however, have examined the pain of those loved ones on the home front, the people who stay up late worrying about a soldier’s well-being. Sue Diaz’s absorbing and intimate memoir Minefields of the Heart looks at a mother’s relationship with her soldier son (Roman) as he spends two deployments fighting in Iraq.
Award-winning journalist Diaz, at home in San Diego, reads and watches the news about Iraq every day, trying to understand what her son is going through. She realizes that he could be killed any second, and there’s little she can do about it. She’s compassionate enough to understand that this possibility of instantaneous loss extends to all families of soldiers: “A young private takes a bullet; back at home his father’s heart bleeds. A soldier loses a leg; his wife struggles in the days that follow to simply keep putting one foot in front of the other. A sergeant’s eardrum is perforated [something that happens to Roman]; his mother hears the explosion in her dreams, time and time again.”
Diaz goes back in time to explore her son’s early life. She admits to having been overprotective at times. She tells of his first day of school, of family trips, of the many ways she worked to nurture and protect her boy. Once he’s in Iraq, exposing himself to combat, her worries justifiably deepen: “I couldn’t help but be aware of the physical dangers that surrounded him [and also] ... the toll that war can take in other ways. The invisible shrapnel that tears up souls, lodges in memories, hardens hearts, wounding in ways no one there can see nor the rest of us really understand.”
It would be wrong to think that Diaz sentimentalizes her relationship with her soldier son. Her book is unblinkingly determined to dig deep, to ask big questions and move toward the answers. She’s also wise enough to see far beyond her own worries, to ask if the sacrifice of so many young soldiers has been worth it: “We as a country lose,” she says, “when even one of them falls.” The mother in Diaz competes with the journalist in her, and the book benefits mightily from this unique combination of heart and head. As Diaz focuses her lens on Roman, she simultaneously widens it to encompass all families of Iraq soldiers. While she loves her son, she’s against the war.
She knows that combat will forever change Roman, and misses her boy: “I wished it were possible to somehow catch and hold again the innocence that was once ours. To grasp, in more ways than one, what we had when we had it.” Part of what Diaz learns is how to let go, but it’s never easy. Diaz offers us her son’s letters home and describes his visits on leave. She sees him changing, becoming physically and mentally stronger. She rightfully worries about some of what he’s learning, like “what it feels like to be awakened by the whistle of falling mortars, to hoist a heavy machine gun in the searing heat, to be looking in the rear-view mirror of the Humvee you’re riding in and see the one behind you disappear in a fiery flash.”
Diaz feels her heart thumping when an officer calls to inform her that Roman has been injured by an improvised explosive device. His injuries aren’t life-threatening, but Roman is also forced to confront the deaths of 10 of his comrades. When communicating with his mom, Roman tries to minimize the horrors of war, but she knows enough to see through it; and she’s strong enough not to force him to share more than he wants to.
Diaz’s memoir provides unique insights into the challenges faced by military families. Diaz’s emotional honesty is matched by her stellar writing: her prose is polished and, at times, achieves a quiet, soaring lyricism. In the end, Roman comes home. But his war is far from over, writes Diaz: “he’s been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder ... and traumatic brain injury.” Roman has difficulties remembering, but he’s getting treatment. As Diaz puts it on the final page: “There are battles he has yet to fight ... these things, I know, take time.” Both mother and son have been through more than they expected, or wanted.
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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. As a courtesy to the author, please tweet and retweet this post using this little green retweet widget :
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
Doub Hiser's Montana Mist Brings Bonuses
Mountain Mist
Doug Hiser
Bestselling author Doug Hiser’s new novel, Montana Mist, Winter of the White Wolf, you can almost taste the wilderness and the life springing from the pages Set in the town of Rime, Montana, the pages are replete with loners, free spirits, and those simply looking for a place to lose themselves for awhile.
Here’s what reviewer Tracy Riva said, “The scenery in Montana Mist vividly springs to life bringing the mountain town and its surroundings into keen view as you peruse the pages of this piece of modern folklore. Hiser brings not only the people of Rime, but also the wild inhabitants of its nearby mountains to boldly dance across the screen of your mind.
“What follows is one of my favorite passages from the book, a tall tale that I suppose could have happened somewhere, at sometime but probably takes place only in our fascinated imaginations. It is the tale of a one-eyed wolf appropriately named Cyclops and a huge bull moose which no wolf in his right mind would normally dare to attack alone:
“Suddenly Cyclops darted in and snapped at the moose’s hind leg. The wolf was fast and quick and he had drawn first blood. The moose grunted and bellowed in rage, snot flung from his large nostrils as he twisted in response to the biting pain in his rear leg. Cyclops rushed in again and the moose was slower. The one-eyed wolf bit the moose in the other hind leg. Throughout the entire engagement Cyclops had been silent but the moose groaned and grunted and snorted in anger. The moose’s shoulders quivered and his mouth opened and closed as oxygen was sucked in. Cyclops had one more trick to play against the big Bull Moose. This is the part where I wish you could have been there…that one-eyed wolf ran around the staggered moose and got behind him again. Cyclops was too quick for that big engine of power. The moose was caught off guard as the one-eyed wolf leapt high and far from behind. That wolf jumped on the moose’s back.”
“ …At first the moose just stood still, breathing hard and tossing his antlers back and forth. Finally realizing there was a wolf sitting on his back the moose started to jump and run. I saw that crazy one-eyed wolf straddling that wild moose and clinging with all four paws and biting a clump of thick hair on the moose’s neck. Cyclops didn’t try to attack the moose. He was just trying to stay on for the ride. That moose jumped and ran all over that clearing trying to dislodge Cyclops. That was the strangest thing you ever saw, a crazy one-eyed wolf riding on a bucking moose.”
Hiser knows how to tell a story and he uses masterful prose to bring his work to life for you to enjoy. I highly recommend Montana Mist, Winter of the White Wolf- reading it will leave an indelible impression on you. Get it today with loads of bonuses! http://bit.ly/e0hWKz
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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. As a courtesy to the author, please tweet and retweet this post using this little green retweet widget :
Doug Hiser
Bestselling author Doug Hiser’s new novel, Montana Mist, Winter of the White Wolf, you can almost taste the wilderness and the life springing from the pages Set in the town of Rime, Montana, the pages are replete with loners, free spirits, and those simply looking for a place to lose themselves for awhile.
Here’s what reviewer Tracy Riva said, “The scenery in Montana Mist vividly springs to life bringing the mountain town and its surroundings into keen view as you peruse the pages of this piece of modern folklore. Hiser brings not only the people of Rime, but also the wild inhabitants of its nearby mountains to boldly dance across the screen of your mind.
“What follows is one of my favorite passages from the book, a tall tale that I suppose could have happened somewhere, at sometime but probably takes place only in our fascinated imaginations. It is the tale of a one-eyed wolf appropriately named Cyclops and a huge bull moose which no wolf in his right mind would normally dare to attack alone:
“Suddenly Cyclops darted in and snapped at the moose’s hind leg. The wolf was fast and quick and he had drawn first blood. The moose grunted and bellowed in rage, snot flung from his large nostrils as he twisted in response to the biting pain in his rear leg. Cyclops rushed in again and the moose was slower. The one-eyed wolf bit the moose in the other hind leg. Throughout the entire engagement Cyclops had been silent but the moose groaned and grunted and snorted in anger. The moose’s shoulders quivered and his mouth opened and closed as oxygen was sucked in. Cyclops had one more trick to play against the big Bull Moose. This is the part where I wish you could have been there…that one-eyed wolf ran around the staggered moose and got behind him again. Cyclops was too quick for that big engine of power. The moose was caught off guard as the one-eyed wolf leapt high and far from behind. That wolf jumped on the moose’s back.”
“ …At first the moose just stood still, breathing hard and tossing his antlers back and forth. Finally realizing there was a wolf sitting on his back the moose started to jump and run. I saw that crazy one-eyed wolf straddling that wild moose and clinging with all four paws and biting a clump of thick hair on the moose’s neck. Cyclops didn’t try to attack the moose. He was just trying to stay on for the ride. That moose jumped and ran all over that clearing trying to dislodge Cyclops. That was the strangest thing you ever saw, a crazy one-eyed wolf riding on a bucking moose.”
Hiser knows how to tell a story and he uses masterful prose to bring his work to life for you to enjoy. I highly recommend Montana Mist, Winter of the White Wolf- reading it will leave an indelible impression on you. Get it today with loads of bonuses! http://bit.ly/e0hWKz
-----
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. As a courtesy to the author, please tweet and retweet this post using this little green retweet widget :
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Historical Fiction Reviewed by Nurture Your Books
Crestmont
by Holly Weiss
Historical Fiction
ISBN 978-1-935188-10-0
Now available in Kindle $2.99
Author website http://www.hollyweiss.com
Reviewed by Bobbie Crawford-McCoy of Nurture Your Books
https://www.nurtureyourbooks.com.
The roaring 20′s were a time of great prosperity for many American families; finding an excellent family vacation spot was a favoured past-time for the more affluent, American citizens. The story of the Crestmont Inn is set between the years 1899 to the late 1920′s and the story unfolds in Eagles Mere, Pennsylvania. Although Gracie Antes loved her family and her home, the innocent crush on her sister’s fiancé has gone a little too far; unsure of how she would be able to deal with it all, Grace quickly decides to move forward her plans to leave home and become a famous singer. By chance, Gracie finds an ad in a newspaper that offers several positions at the Crestmont Inn. The story includes a cast of well-developed, true-to-life characters who are fascinating and believable at the same time. Crestmont is a smoothly-flowing story with an emotionally-poignant narrative; all of the story elements blend seamlessly together to produce an undeniable echo of a simpler time, gone by. The Crestmont Inn, described in the story, is in actual fact, loosely based on the real Crestmont Inn; if readers wish to enhance their reading experience, they may want to make a visit to the real Crestmont Inn, in Eagles Mere, Pennsylvania. At the beginning of the book, readers will find a note, written by the author and a map of the Crestmont Campus; at the back of the book, readers will find an Afterword written by the author, a list of end-notes and a list of research sources for books, websites and other resources. The perfect paperback edition is beautifully bound with well designed and visually pleasing front and back covers. Also available in eBook format, Crestmont is a shining example of historical fiction and its ability to breathe new life into the past. A very highly recommended read for historical fiction fans!
An excerpt from Crestmont
“Masses of yellow crocuses opened their mouths to drink in the morning sun. A little outlet pond greeted him at the base of the hill and he excitedly began his climb. Mountain laurel and bird song encouraged him along the way. At the summit, ideas flooded his brain more numerous than the felled branches around him. A stunning view of the lake took his breath away as he reached the top of the mount. Standing motionless at the center of this new universe, he mentally transformed Cyclone Hill into The Crestmont Inn. Amidst the devastation surrounding him, William Warner planted his feet 2200 feet above sea level and knew he stood on opportunity.”
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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. As a courtesy to the author, please tweet and retweet this post using this little green retweet widget :
by Holly Weiss
Historical Fiction
ISBN 978-1-935188-10-0
Now available in Kindle $2.99
Author website http://www.hollyweiss.com
Reviewed by Bobbie Crawford-McCoy of Nurture Your Books
https://www.nurtureyourbooks.com.
The roaring 20′s were a time of great prosperity for many American families; finding an excellent family vacation spot was a favoured past-time for the more affluent, American citizens. The story of the Crestmont Inn is set between the years 1899 to the late 1920′s and the story unfolds in Eagles Mere, Pennsylvania. Although Gracie Antes loved her family and her home, the innocent crush on her sister’s fiancé has gone a little too far; unsure of how she would be able to deal with it all, Grace quickly decides to move forward her plans to leave home and become a famous singer. By chance, Gracie finds an ad in a newspaper that offers several positions at the Crestmont Inn. The story includes a cast of well-developed, true-to-life characters who are fascinating and believable at the same time. Crestmont is a smoothly-flowing story with an emotionally-poignant narrative; all of the story elements blend seamlessly together to produce an undeniable echo of a simpler time, gone by. The Crestmont Inn, described in the story, is in actual fact, loosely based on the real Crestmont Inn; if readers wish to enhance their reading experience, they may want to make a visit to the real Crestmont Inn, in Eagles Mere, Pennsylvania. At the beginning of the book, readers will find a note, written by the author and a map of the Crestmont Campus; at the back of the book, readers will find an Afterword written by the author, a list of end-notes and a list of research sources for books, websites and other resources. The perfect paperback edition is beautifully bound with well designed and visually pleasing front and back covers. Also available in eBook format, Crestmont is a shining example of historical fiction and its ability to breathe new life into the past. A very highly recommended read for historical fiction fans!
An excerpt from Crestmont
“Masses of yellow crocuses opened their mouths to drink in the morning sun. A little outlet pond greeted him at the base of the hill and he excitedly began his climb. Mountain laurel and bird song encouraged him along the way. At the summit, ideas flooded his brain more numerous than the felled branches around him. A stunning view of the lake took his breath away as he reached the top of the mount. Standing motionless at the center of this new universe, he mentally transformed Cyclone Hill into The Crestmont Inn. Amidst the devastation surrounding him, William Warner planted his feet 2200 feet above sea level and knew he stood on opportunity.”
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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. As a courtesy to the author, please tweet and retweet this post using this little green retweet widget :
Monday, January 17, 2011
Midwest Book Review Reviews New Second Wind Entry
The Pirate's Bastard
Second Wind Publishing, L.L.C., http://www.secondwindpublishing.com/
Genre: Historical fiction
Mass Market Paperback: 172 pages
Language: English
ISBN: 978-1-935171-20-1
Price: $11.95
Originally Reviewed for Midwest Book Review
Having a pirate for a father leads to more harm than good. The Pirate's Bastard is an adventurous tale following Edward Marshall as he's dragged into his father's trade by Ignatius Pell, a friend of his father and has plenty of blackmail to counter Edward's protests. A fun story of treasure hunting and the notoriety of the father, The Pirate's Bastard is a fine addition to any historical fiction collection.
~Learn more about the author, Laura S. Wharton, at http://www.laurawhartonbooks.com/. She blogs at http://www.laurawharton.blogspot.com/ and tweets at www.twitter.com/LauraSWharton.
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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. As a courtesy to the author, please tweet and retweet this post using this little green retweet widget :
Second Wind Publishing, L.L.C., http://www.secondwindpublishing.com/
Genre: Historical fiction
Mass Market Paperback: 172 pages
Language: English
ISBN: 978-1-935171-20-1
Price: $11.95
Originally Reviewed for Midwest Book Review
Having a pirate for a father leads to more harm than good. The Pirate's Bastard is an adventurous tale following Edward Marshall as he's dragged into his father's trade by Ignatius Pell, a friend of his father and has plenty of blackmail to counter Edward's protests. A fun story of treasure hunting and the notoriety of the father, The Pirate's Bastard is a fine addition to any historical fiction collection.
~Learn more about the author, Laura S. Wharton, at http://www.laurawhartonbooks.com/. She blogs at http://www.laurawharton.blogspot.com/ and tweets at www.twitter.com/LauraSWharton.
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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. As a courtesy to the author, please tweet and retweet this post using this little green retweet widget :
Saturday, January 15, 2011
Carolyn's Best Books of 2010 List
I write a "Back to Literature" for MyShelf.com and have the privilege of listing my favorite books for that site in January. I hope you'll go there and check out the lists of all the columnists and reviewers there. In the meantime, here is mine:
Three Dog Night by Peter Goldsworthy. Viking (imprint of Penguin). ISBN 0670893986
Water for Elephants (Algonquin Books) by Sara Gruen ISBN-13: 978-1565125605
Love is Like a Rainbow by Dawn Colclasure. Gypsy Shadow Publishing. ISBN 9780984452101. For easy, light, rhymed poems about love. www.dmcwriter.tripod.com
Memoirs of the Soul: A Writing Guide by Nan Merrick Phifer (Foreword by Hal Zina Bennett). (A new edition.) Ingot Press, ISBN: 9780984206001. nanphifer@mac.com
It was the best of sentences, it was the worst of sentences by June Casagrande. (Ten Speed Press) ISBN-13: 978-1580087407
Mortal Syntax: 101 Language Choices That Will Get You Clobbered by the Grammar Snobs--Even If You're Right, by June Casagrande. (Penguin) ISBN-13: 978-0143113324
55 Ways to Promote & Sell Your Book on the Internet by Bob Baker. (FullTimeAuthor.com), ISBN-13: 978-0971483866
(Note: Please see my list of Noble (Not Nobel!) Prize winners for 2010. It's in my
"Back to Literature" column that runs every January on www.myshelf.com. Columns are archived so you can see my past lists there, too.
For more contests that judge books based on quality rather than their covers or the press they are printed on, go to www.howtodoitfrugally.com/contests.htm .)
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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. As a courtesy to the author, please tweet and retweet this post using this little green retweet widget :
Three Dog Night by Peter Goldsworthy. Viking (imprint of Penguin). ISBN 0670893986
Water for Elephants (Algonquin Books) by Sara Gruen ISBN-13: 978-1565125605
Love is Like a Rainbow by Dawn Colclasure. Gypsy Shadow Publishing. ISBN 9780984452101. For easy, light, rhymed poems about love. www.dmcwriter.tripod.com
Memoirs of the Soul: A Writing Guide by Nan Merrick Phifer (Foreword by Hal Zina Bennett). (A new edition.) Ingot Press, ISBN: 9780984206001. nanphifer@mac.com
It was the best of sentences, it was the worst of sentences by June Casagrande. (Ten Speed Press) ISBN-13: 978-1580087407
Mortal Syntax: 101 Language Choices That Will Get You Clobbered by the Grammar Snobs--Even If You're Right, by June Casagrande. (Penguin) ISBN-13: 978-0143113324
55 Ways to Promote & Sell Your Book on the Internet by Bob Baker. (FullTimeAuthor.com), ISBN-13: 978-0971483866
(Note: Please see my list of Noble (Not Nobel!) Prize winners for 2010. It's in my
"Back to Literature" column that runs every January on www.myshelf.com. Columns are archived so you can see my past lists there, too.
For more contests that judge books based on quality rather than their covers or the press they are printed on, go to www.howtodoitfrugally.com/contests.htm .)
-----
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. As a courtesy to the author, please tweet and retweet this post using this little green retweet widget :
Friday, January 14, 2011
Trends in Publishing Industry Explored by Economist/Futurist and Midwest Review Editor
This is a new year. We're coming up on the end of the first month of the new decade. I thought I'd try something new because I found this so fascinating. It is an opinion piece from Jim Cox's newsletter. He is Editor-in-Chief at Midwest Book Review. It isn't a review of a book (although it includes a few!) It was inspired by another article on the Web by Clark McClelland . Find it at http://www.rense.com/general92/goodbye.htm . Scroll to the bottom for Jim's comments on the publishing industry and a few recent reviews on books for writers from his newsletter.
So here is the piece:
By Jim Cox, excerpted from the Midwest Book Review 's newsletter
One of the perks I've enjoyed most about my role as the editor-in-chief of the Midwest Book Review has been the perfect position to observe and occasionally comment upon the publishing industry trends of the past 30+ years.
Just this past month I was the guest (via telephone) on the Boston radio/podcast show "Speak 2B Free" and asked to discuss the phenomena of self-publishing, among other aspects of the contemporary publishing scene.
Two weeks ago one of my long time friends (and the man who served as the director of my old television show "Bookwatch"), Richard Russell, forwarded to me a commentary on the "deindustrialization" of America by Clark McClelland. That commentary--which also included some pithy insights directly germane to the book publishing industry--was so cogent and so much a reflection of my own thoughts and researches on the subject that I am going to reproduce it here in its entirety. Following which I'm going to add a few comments of my own.
Changes Are Coming: Things We'll Be Saying Goodbye To
Whether these changes are good or bad depends in part on how we adapt to them. But, ready or not, here they come.
1. The Post Office. Get ready to imagine a world without the post office. They are so deeply in financial trouble that there is probably no way to sustain it long term. Email, Fed Ex, and UPS have just about wiped out the minimum revenue needed to keep the post office alive. Most of your mail every day is junk mail and bills.
2. The Check. Britain is already laying the groundwork to do away with checks by 2018. It costs the financial system billions of dollars a year to process checks. Plastic cards and online transactions will lead to the eventual demise of the check. This plays right into the death of the post office. If you never paid your bills by mail and never received them by mail, the post office would absolutely go out of business.
3. The Newspaper. The younger generation simply doesn't read the newspaper. They certainly don't subscribe to a daily delivered print edition. That may go the way of the milkman and the laundry man. As for reading the paper online, get ready to pay for it. The rise in mobile Internet devices and e-readers has caused all the newspaper and magazine publishers to form an alliance. They have met with Apple, Amazon, and the major cell phone companies to develop a model for paid subscription services.
4. The Book. You say you will never give up the physical book that you hold in your hand and turn the literal pages. I said the same thing about downloading music from iTunes. I wanted my hard copy CD. But I quickly changed my mind when I discovered that I could get albums for half the price without ever leaving home to get the latest music. The same thing will happen with books. You can browse a bookstore online and even read a preview chapter before you buy. And the price is less than half that of a real book. And think of the convenience! Once you start flicking your fingers on the screen instead of the book, you find that you are lost in the story, can't wait to see what happens next, and you forget that you're holding a gadget instead of a book.
5. The Land Line Telephone. Unless you have a large family and make a lot of local calls, you don't need it anymore. Most people keep it simply because they've always had it. But you are paying double charges for that extra service. All the cell phone companies will let you call customers using the same cell provider for no charge against your minutes.
6. Music. This is one of the saddest parts of the change story. The music industry is dying a slow death. Not just because of illegal downloading. It's the lack of innovative new music being given a chance to get to the people who would like to hear it. Greed and corruption is the problem. The record labels and the radio conglomerates are simply self-destructing. Over 40% of the music purchased today is "catalog items," meaning traditional music that the public is familiar with. Older established artists. This is also true on the live concert circuit. To explore this fascinating and disturbing topic further, check out the book, "Appetite for Self-Destruction" by Steve Knopper, and the video documentary, "Before the Music Dies."
7. Television. Revenues to the networks are down dramatically. Not just because of the economy. People are watching TV and movies streamed from their computers. And they're playing games and doing lots of other things that take up the time that used to be spent watching TV. Prime time shows have degenerated down to lower than the lowest common denominator. Cable rates are skyrocketing and commercials run about every 4 minutes and 30 seconds. I say good riddance to most of it. It's time for the cable companies to be put out of our misery. Let the people choose what they want to watch online and through Netflix.
8. The "Things" That You Own. Many of the very possessions that we used to own are still in our lives, but we may not actually own them in the future. They may simply reside in "the cloud." Today your computer has a hard drive and you store your pictures, music, movies, and documents. Your software is on a CD or DVD, and you can always re-install it if need be. But all of that is changing. Apple, Microsoft, and Google are all finishing up their latest "cloud services." That means that when you turn on a computer, the Internet will be built into the operating system. So, Windows, Google, and the Mac OS will be tied straight into the Internet. If you click an icon, it will open something in the Internet cloud. If you save something, it will be saved to the cloud. And you may pay a monthly subscription fee to the cloud provider.
In this virtual world, you can access your music or your books, or your whatever from any laptop or handheld device. That's the good news. But, will you actually own any of this "stuff" or will it all be able to disappear at any moment in a big "Poof?" Will most of the things in our lives be disposable and whimsical? It makes you want to run to the closet and pull out that photo album, grab a book from the shelf, or open up a CD case and pull out the insert.
9. Privacy. If there ever was a concept that we can look back on nostalgically, it would be privacy. That's gone. It's been gone for a long time anyway. There are cameras on the street, in most of the buildings, and even built into your computer and cell phone. But you can be sure that 24/7, "They" know who you are and where you are, right down to the GPS coordinates, and the Google Street View. If you buy something, your habit is put into a zillion profiles, and your ads will change to reflect those habits. And "They" will try to get you to buy something else. Again and again. All we will have that can't be changed are memories.
19 Facts About The Deindustrialization Of America That Will Blow Your Mind
The United States is rapidly becoming the very first "post-industrial" nation on the globe. All great economic empires eventually become fat and lazy and squander the great wealth that their forefathers have left them, but the pace at which America is accomplishing this is absolutely amazing. It was America that was at the forefront of the industrial revolution. It was America that showed the world how to mass produce everything from automobiles to televisions to airplanes. It was the great American manufacturing base that crushed Germany and Japan in World War II.
But now we are witnessing the deindustrialization of America. Tens of thousands of factories have left the United States in the past decade alone. Millions upon millions of manufacturing jobs have been lost in the same time period. The United States has become a nation that consumes everything in sight and yet produces increasingly little. Do you know what our biggest export is today? Waste paper. Yes, trash is the #1 thing that we ship out to the rest of the world as we voraciously blow our money on whatever the rest of the world wants to sell to us.
The United States has become bloated and spoiled, and our economy is now just a shadow of what it once was. Once upon a time America could literally outproduce the rest of the world combined. Today that is no longer true, but Americans sure do consume more than anyone else in the world. If the deindustrialization of America continues at this current pace, what possible kind of a future are we going to be leaving to our children?
Any great nation throughout history has been great at making things. So, if the United States continues to allow its manufacturing base to erode at a staggering pace, how in the world can the U.S. continue to consider itself to be a great nation? We have created the biggest debt bubble in the history of the world in an effort to maintain a very high standard of living, but the current state of affairs is not anywhere close to sustainable. Every single month America goes into more debt and every single month America gets poorer.
So, what happens when the debt bubble pops?
The deindustrialization of the United States should be a top concern for every man, woman, and child in the country. But sadly, most Americans do not have any idea what is going on around them.
For people like that, take this article and print it out and hand it to them. Perhaps what they will read below will shock them badly enough to awaken them from their slumber.
Here are 19 stunning facts about the deindustrialization of America:
#1 The United States has lost approximately 42,400 factories since 2001. About 75% of those factories employed over 500 people when they were still in operation.
#2 Dell Inc., one of America 's largest manufacturers of computers, has announced plans to dramatically expand its operations in China with an investment of over $100 billion over the next decade.
#3 Dell has announced that it will be closing its last large U.S. manufacturing facility in Winston-Salem, North Carolina in November. Approximately 900 jobs will be lost.
#4 In 2008, 1.2 billion cell phones were sold worldwide. So how many of them were manufactured inside the United States? Zero.
#5 According to a new study conducted by the Economic Policy Institute, if the U.S. trade deficit with China continues to increase at its current rate, the U.S. economy will lose over half a million jobs this year alone.
#6 As of the end of July, the U.S. trade deficit with China had risen 18% compared to the same time period a year ago.
#7 The United States has lost a total of about 5.5 million manufacturing jobs since October 2000.
#8 According to Tax Notes, between 1999 and 2008 employment at the foreign affiliates of U.S. parent companies increased an astounding 30% to 10.1 million. During that exact same time period, U.S. employment at American multinational corporations declined 8% to 21.1 million.
#9 In 1959, manufacturing represented 28 percent of U.S. economic output. In 2008, it represented 11.5 percent.
#10 Ford Motor Company recently announced the closure of a factory that produces the Ford Ranger in St. Paul, Minnesota. Approximately 750 good paying middle class jobs are going to be lost because making Ford Rangers in Minnesota does not fit in with Ford's new "global" manufacturing strategy.
#11 As of the end of 2009, fewer than 12 million Americans worked in manufacturing. The last time fewer than 12 million Americans were employed in manufacturing was in 1941.
#12 In the United States today, consumption accounts for 70% of GDP. Of this amount, over half is spent on services.
#13 The United States has lost a whopping 32% of its manufacturing jobs since the year 2000.
#14 In 2001, the United States ranked 4th in the world in per-capita broadband Internet use. Today it ranks 15th.
#15 Manufacturing employment in the U.S. computer industry is actually lower in 2010 than it was in 1975.
#16 Printed circuit boards are used in tens of thousands of different products. Asia now produces 84% of them worldwide.
#17 The United States spends approximately $3.90 on Chinese goods for every $1 that the Chinese spend on goods from the United States.
#18 One prominent economist is projecting that the Chinese economy will be 3 times larger than the U.S. economy by the year 2040.
#19 The U.S. Census Bureau says that 43.6 million Americans are now living in poverty and according to them that is the highest number of poor Americans in the 51 years that records have been kept.
So, how many tens of thousands more factories do we need to lose before we do something about it?
How many millions more Americans are going to become unemployed before we all admit that we have a very, very serious problem on our hands?
How many more trillions of dollars are going to leave the country before we realize that we are losing wealth at a pace that is killing our economy?
How many once great manufacturing cities are going to become rotting war zones like Detroit before we understand that we are committing national economic suicide?
The deindustrialization of America is a national crisis. It needs to be treated like one.
And to underscore the above: 11/9/10: The largest private employer in Saginaw, Michigan will soon be the city government of Beijing, as a 104-year-old unit of General Motors will be sold to new owners from China. The $450M purchase received little attention this summer, but it is a landmark deal - the first time Chinese investors have bought a U.S. industrial operation of such scale and history.
Clark McClelland
What Mr. McClelland has so meticulously spelled out is dead-on accurate and holds profound implications for authors, publishers, wholesalers, distributors, booksellers, librarians, reviewers, publicists, and the general reading public.
Digital publishing will eventually supplant print publishing. In some specialized areas of the publishing industry it already has. For example, large encyclopedic, multi-volume, library reference works have pretty much now evolved into online databases with subscription fees.
eBooks are a rapidly growing percentage of the book market. Witness the advent of Google eBooks which has been established as a major competitor to Amazon.con in that particular sector of the book publishing industry.
This transformative trend of digital printing gaining market share over traditional print is on-going and increasing year by year. The driving force behind it is a combination of the simple economics of book publishing and the relentless advancement of younger generations for whom electronics are as natural to them as breathing, compounded by the dying out of older generations whose traditions and life experiences are those of the hand-held, page-turning, print books they grew up with.
As additional note -- I can't remember the last time I reviewed one of those expensive coffee-table art books that wasn't printed outside the USA. The reasons for that are these very same "deindustrialization" trends that Mr. McClelland has so clearly spelled out and illustrated.
This particular article has finally convinced me that I'm going to have to adapt the Midwest Book Review into considering ebooks for review. But what the parameters of this will be needs a great deal more thought to what the guidelines will have to be.
Currently out of 76 volunteer reviewers I have one reviewer willing to take on ebook assignments. It's clear that in the not-so-distant future I'll need to significantly expand that resource.
Incidently, Mr. McClelland has given complete permission for anyone to share his commentary in their newsletter, blog, website, etc.. Just be sure to give him the usual credit citation when doing so.
Now for showcasing four new "how to" titles for writers:
The Writing/Publishing Shelf
A Skeptic's Guide to Writer's Houses
Anne Trubek
University of Pennsylvania Press
3905 Spruce Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104-4112
9780812242928, $24.95, http://www.upenn.edu/
To follow in the footsteps of another is what many do for inspiration. "A Skeptics' Guide to Writer's Houses" is a unique and humorous guide to the house museums of famous authors throughout the country and presents an unusual array of thoughts and opinions on the writing cultures reverence of these locations. With plenty of humor, "A Skeptic's Guide to Writers' Houses" is a unique blend of memoir, travelogue, and literary work analyzing the subculture of it all.
The Writer's Guide to PsychologyCarolyn Kaufman
Quill Driver Books
2006 S. Mary Street, Fresno, CA 93721-3311
9781884995682, $14.95, http://www.quilldriverbooks.com/
The human mind is one of the most difficult thing to understand, and it's so easy for a writer to get it wrong. "The Writer's Guide to Psychology: How to Write Accurately About Psychological Disorders, Clinical Treatment, and Human Behavior" acts as a resource explaining the finer details of these disorders and what a writer should know before diving into writing such characters. Hoping to dispel commonly used tropes such as raving lunatic serial killers, the truth about schizophrenia, the problem with hypnosis, and much more. Explaining how to make psychopathic characters work, "The Writer's Guide to Psychology" is highly useful and highly recommended resource.
Writing Conversations
Cherie K. Miller
Wisdom Creek Press
5814 Sailboat Pointe NW, Acworth, GA 30101
9780981875613, $14.95, http://www.wisdomcreekpress.com/
The career of writing can be quite daunting to get in to. "Writing Conversations: Spend 365 Days with Your Favorite Authors, Learning the Craft of Writing" is a writing advisory guide from Cherie K. Miller who seeks to give aspiring writers tips and tricks, as well as wisdom and advice for picking up their craft and sticking with it, and getting your work to the next level through an agent or publisher. "Writing Conversations" is a thoughtful and useful guide for those who want to keep themselves on task.
300 Days of Better WritingDavid Bowman
Cereb Press
c/o Precise Edit
1866 Plaza del Sur, 138 Santa Fe, NM 87505
9780982267455, $13.95
No one is going to get better at writing without practice. "300 Days of Better Writing: A Daily Handbook for Improving Your Writing" is a guide for daily exercises to improve one's writing in a gradual manner, encouraging clarity, good grammar, and conveying one's thoughts and opinions effectively. For anyone seeking a daily writing exercise book, "300 Days of Better Writing" may be the guide for them.
More on Jim and Midwest Review
All of the previous issues of the "Jim Cox Report" are archived on the Midwest Book Review Web site. If you'd like to receive the "Jim Cox Report" directly (and for free), just send Jim an email asking to be signed up for it. MWBOOKRVW@AOL.COM.
Jim Cox
Midwest Book Review
278 Orchard Drive, Oregon, WI, 53575
http://www.midwestbookreview.com/
Jim Cox gave permission to reprint this article. McClelland's permission is implicit in his article.
-----
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. As a courtesy to the author, please tweet and retweet this post using this little green retweet widget :
So here is the piece:
By Jim Cox, excerpted from the Midwest Book Review 's newsletter
One of the perks I've enjoyed most about my role as the editor-in-chief of the Midwest Book Review has been the perfect position to observe and occasionally comment upon the publishing industry trends of the past 30+ years.
Just this past month I was the guest (via telephone) on the Boston radio/podcast show "Speak 2B Free" and asked to discuss the phenomena of self-publishing, among other aspects of the contemporary publishing scene.
Two weeks ago one of my long time friends (and the man who served as the director of my old television show "Bookwatch"), Richard Russell, forwarded to me a commentary on the "deindustrialization" of America by Clark McClelland. That commentary--which also included some pithy insights directly germane to the book publishing industry--was so cogent and so much a reflection of my own thoughts and researches on the subject that I am going to reproduce it here in its entirety. Following which I'm going to add a few comments of my own.
Changes Are Coming: Things We'll Be Saying Goodbye To
Whether these changes are good or bad depends in part on how we adapt to them. But, ready or not, here they come.
1. The Post Office. Get ready to imagine a world without the post office. They are so deeply in financial trouble that there is probably no way to sustain it long term. Email, Fed Ex, and UPS have just about wiped out the minimum revenue needed to keep the post office alive. Most of your mail every day is junk mail and bills.
2. The Check. Britain is already laying the groundwork to do away with checks by 2018. It costs the financial system billions of dollars a year to process checks. Plastic cards and online transactions will lead to the eventual demise of the check. This plays right into the death of the post office. If you never paid your bills by mail and never received them by mail, the post office would absolutely go out of business.
3. The Newspaper. The younger generation simply doesn't read the newspaper. They certainly don't subscribe to a daily delivered print edition. That may go the way of the milkman and the laundry man. As for reading the paper online, get ready to pay for it. The rise in mobile Internet devices and e-readers has caused all the newspaper and magazine publishers to form an alliance. They have met with Apple, Amazon, and the major cell phone companies to develop a model for paid subscription services.
4. The Book. You say you will never give up the physical book that you hold in your hand and turn the literal pages. I said the same thing about downloading music from iTunes. I wanted my hard copy CD. But I quickly changed my mind when I discovered that I could get albums for half the price without ever leaving home to get the latest music. The same thing will happen with books. You can browse a bookstore online and even read a preview chapter before you buy. And the price is less than half that of a real book. And think of the convenience! Once you start flicking your fingers on the screen instead of the book, you find that you are lost in the story, can't wait to see what happens next, and you forget that you're holding a gadget instead of a book.
5. The Land Line Telephone. Unless you have a large family and make a lot of local calls, you don't need it anymore. Most people keep it simply because they've always had it. But you are paying double charges for that extra service. All the cell phone companies will let you call customers using the same cell provider for no charge against your minutes.
6. Music. This is one of the saddest parts of the change story. The music industry is dying a slow death. Not just because of illegal downloading. It's the lack of innovative new music being given a chance to get to the people who would like to hear it. Greed and corruption is the problem. The record labels and the radio conglomerates are simply self-destructing. Over 40% of the music purchased today is "catalog items," meaning traditional music that the public is familiar with. Older established artists. This is also true on the live concert circuit. To explore this fascinating and disturbing topic further, check out the book, "Appetite for Self-Destruction" by Steve Knopper, and the video documentary, "Before the Music Dies."
7. Television. Revenues to the networks are down dramatically. Not just because of the economy. People are watching TV and movies streamed from their computers. And they're playing games and doing lots of other things that take up the time that used to be spent watching TV. Prime time shows have degenerated down to lower than the lowest common denominator. Cable rates are skyrocketing and commercials run about every 4 minutes and 30 seconds. I say good riddance to most of it. It's time for the cable companies to be put out of our misery. Let the people choose what they want to watch online and through Netflix.
8. The "Things" That You Own. Many of the very possessions that we used to own are still in our lives, but we may not actually own them in the future. They may simply reside in "the cloud." Today your computer has a hard drive and you store your pictures, music, movies, and documents. Your software is on a CD or DVD, and you can always re-install it if need be. But all of that is changing. Apple, Microsoft, and Google are all finishing up their latest "cloud services." That means that when you turn on a computer, the Internet will be built into the operating system. So, Windows, Google, and the Mac OS will be tied straight into the Internet. If you click an icon, it will open something in the Internet cloud. If you save something, it will be saved to the cloud. And you may pay a monthly subscription fee to the cloud provider.
In this virtual world, you can access your music or your books, or your whatever from any laptop or handheld device. That's the good news. But, will you actually own any of this "stuff" or will it all be able to disappear at any moment in a big "Poof?" Will most of the things in our lives be disposable and whimsical? It makes you want to run to the closet and pull out that photo album, grab a book from the shelf, or open up a CD case and pull out the insert.
9. Privacy. If there ever was a concept that we can look back on nostalgically, it would be privacy. That's gone. It's been gone for a long time anyway. There are cameras on the street, in most of the buildings, and even built into your computer and cell phone. But you can be sure that 24/7, "They" know who you are and where you are, right down to the GPS coordinates, and the Google Street View. If you buy something, your habit is put into a zillion profiles, and your ads will change to reflect those habits. And "They" will try to get you to buy something else. Again and again. All we will have that can't be changed are memories.
19 Facts About The Deindustrialization Of America That Will Blow Your Mind
The United States is rapidly becoming the very first "post-industrial" nation on the globe. All great economic empires eventually become fat and lazy and squander the great wealth that their forefathers have left them, but the pace at which America is accomplishing this is absolutely amazing. It was America that was at the forefront of the industrial revolution. It was America that showed the world how to mass produce everything from automobiles to televisions to airplanes. It was the great American manufacturing base that crushed Germany and Japan in World War II.
But now we are witnessing the deindustrialization of America. Tens of thousands of factories have left the United States in the past decade alone. Millions upon millions of manufacturing jobs have been lost in the same time period. The United States has become a nation that consumes everything in sight and yet produces increasingly little. Do you know what our biggest export is today? Waste paper. Yes, trash is the #1 thing that we ship out to the rest of the world as we voraciously blow our money on whatever the rest of the world wants to sell to us.
The United States has become bloated and spoiled, and our economy is now just a shadow of what it once was. Once upon a time America could literally outproduce the rest of the world combined. Today that is no longer true, but Americans sure do consume more than anyone else in the world. If the deindustrialization of America continues at this current pace, what possible kind of a future are we going to be leaving to our children?
Any great nation throughout history has been great at making things. So, if the United States continues to allow its manufacturing base to erode at a staggering pace, how in the world can the U.S. continue to consider itself to be a great nation? We have created the biggest debt bubble in the history of the world in an effort to maintain a very high standard of living, but the current state of affairs is not anywhere close to sustainable. Every single month America goes into more debt and every single month America gets poorer.
So, what happens when the debt bubble pops?
The deindustrialization of the United States should be a top concern for every man, woman, and child in the country. But sadly, most Americans do not have any idea what is going on around them.
For people like that, take this article and print it out and hand it to them. Perhaps what they will read below will shock them badly enough to awaken them from their slumber.
Here are 19 stunning facts about the deindustrialization of America:
#1 The United States has lost approximately 42,400 factories since 2001. About 75% of those factories employed over 500 people when they were still in operation.
#2 Dell Inc., one of America 's largest manufacturers of computers, has announced plans to dramatically expand its operations in China with an investment of over $100 billion over the next decade.
#3 Dell has announced that it will be closing its last large U.S. manufacturing facility in Winston-Salem, North Carolina in November. Approximately 900 jobs will be lost.
#4 In 2008, 1.2 billion cell phones were sold worldwide. So how many of them were manufactured inside the United States? Zero.
#5 According to a new study conducted by the Economic Policy Institute, if the U.S. trade deficit with China continues to increase at its current rate, the U.S. economy will lose over half a million jobs this year alone.
#6 As of the end of July, the U.S. trade deficit with China had risen 18% compared to the same time period a year ago.
#7 The United States has lost a total of about 5.5 million manufacturing jobs since October 2000.
#8 According to Tax Notes, between 1999 and 2008 employment at the foreign affiliates of U.S. parent companies increased an astounding 30% to 10.1 million. During that exact same time period, U.S. employment at American multinational corporations declined 8% to 21.1 million.
#9 In 1959, manufacturing represented 28 percent of U.S. economic output. In 2008, it represented 11.5 percent.
#10 Ford Motor Company recently announced the closure of a factory that produces the Ford Ranger in St. Paul, Minnesota. Approximately 750 good paying middle class jobs are going to be lost because making Ford Rangers in Minnesota does not fit in with Ford's new "global" manufacturing strategy.
#11 As of the end of 2009, fewer than 12 million Americans worked in manufacturing. The last time fewer than 12 million Americans were employed in manufacturing was in 1941.
#12 In the United States today, consumption accounts for 70% of GDP. Of this amount, over half is spent on services.
#13 The United States has lost a whopping 32% of its manufacturing jobs since the year 2000.
#14 In 2001, the United States ranked 4th in the world in per-capita broadband Internet use. Today it ranks 15th.
#15 Manufacturing employment in the U.S. computer industry is actually lower in 2010 than it was in 1975.
#16 Printed circuit boards are used in tens of thousands of different products. Asia now produces 84% of them worldwide.
#17 The United States spends approximately $3.90 on Chinese goods for every $1 that the Chinese spend on goods from the United States.
#18 One prominent economist is projecting that the Chinese economy will be 3 times larger than the U.S. economy by the year 2040.
#19 The U.S. Census Bureau says that 43.6 million Americans are now living in poverty and according to them that is the highest number of poor Americans in the 51 years that records have been kept.
So, how many tens of thousands more factories do we need to lose before we do something about it?
How many millions more Americans are going to become unemployed before we all admit that we have a very, very serious problem on our hands?
How many more trillions of dollars are going to leave the country before we realize that we are losing wealth at a pace that is killing our economy?
How many once great manufacturing cities are going to become rotting war zones like Detroit before we understand that we are committing national economic suicide?
The deindustrialization of America is a national crisis. It needs to be treated like one.
And to underscore the above: 11/9/10: The largest private employer in Saginaw, Michigan will soon be the city government of Beijing, as a 104-year-old unit of General Motors will be sold to new owners from China. The $450M purchase received little attention this summer, but it is a landmark deal - the first time Chinese investors have bought a U.S. industrial operation of such scale and history.
Clark McClelland
What Mr. McClelland has so meticulously spelled out is dead-on accurate and holds profound implications for authors, publishers, wholesalers, distributors, booksellers, librarians, reviewers, publicists, and the general reading public.
Digital publishing will eventually supplant print publishing. In some specialized areas of the publishing industry it already has. For example, large encyclopedic, multi-volume, library reference works have pretty much now evolved into online databases with subscription fees.
eBooks are a rapidly growing percentage of the book market. Witness the advent of Google eBooks which has been established as a major competitor to Amazon.con in that particular sector of the book publishing industry.
This transformative trend of digital printing gaining market share over traditional print is on-going and increasing year by year. The driving force behind it is a combination of the simple economics of book publishing and the relentless advancement of younger generations for whom electronics are as natural to them as breathing, compounded by the dying out of older generations whose traditions and life experiences are those of the hand-held, page-turning, print books they grew up with.
As additional note -- I can't remember the last time I reviewed one of those expensive coffee-table art books that wasn't printed outside the USA. The reasons for that are these very same "deindustrialization" trends that Mr. McClelland has so clearly spelled out and illustrated.
This particular article has finally convinced me that I'm going to have to adapt the Midwest Book Review into considering ebooks for review. But what the parameters of this will be needs a great deal more thought to what the guidelines will have to be.
Currently out of 76 volunteer reviewers I have one reviewer willing to take on ebook assignments. It's clear that in the not-so-distant future I'll need to significantly expand that resource.
Incidently, Mr. McClelland has given complete permission for anyone to share his commentary in their newsletter, blog, website, etc.. Just be sure to give him the usual credit citation when doing so.
Now for showcasing four new "how to" titles for writers:
The Writing/Publishing Shelf
A Skeptic's Guide to Writer's Houses
Anne Trubek
University of Pennsylvania Press
3905 Spruce Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104-4112
9780812242928, $24.95, http://www.upenn.edu/
To follow in the footsteps of another is what many do for inspiration. "A Skeptics' Guide to Writer's Houses" is a unique and humorous guide to the house museums of famous authors throughout the country and presents an unusual array of thoughts and opinions on the writing cultures reverence of these locations. With plenty of humor, "A Skeptic's Guide to Writers' Houses" is a unique blend of memoir, travelogue, and literary work analyzing the subculture of it all.
The Writer's Guide to PsychologyCarolyn Kaufman
Quill Driver Books
2006 S. Mary Street, Fresno, CA 93721-3311
9781884995682, $14.95, http://www.quilldriverbooks.com/
The human mind is one of the most difficult thing to understand, and it's so easy for a writer to get it wrong. "The Writer's Guide to Psychology: How to Write Accurately About Psychological Disorders, Clinical Treatment, and Human Behavior" acts as a resource explaining the finer details of these disorders and what a writer should know before diving into writing such characters. Hoping to dispel commonly used tropes such as raving lunatic serial killers, the truth about schizophrenia, the problem with hypnosis, and much more. Explaining how to make psychopathic characters work, "The Writer's Guide to Psychology" is highly useful and highly recommended resource.
Writing Conversations
Cherie K. Miller
Wisdom Creek Press
5814 Sailboat Pointe NW, Acworth, GA 30101
9780981875613, $14.95, http://www.wisdomcreekpress.com/
The career of writing can be quite daunting to get in to. "Writing Conversations: Spend 365 Days with Your Favorite Authors, Learning the Craft of Writing" is a writing advisory guide from Cherie K. Miller who seeks to give aspiring writers tips and tricks, as well as wisdom and advice for picking up their craft and sticking with it, and getting your work to the next level through an agent or publisher. "Writing Conversations" is a thoughtful and useful guide for those who want to keep themselves on task.
300 Days of Better WritingDavid Bowman
Cereb Press
c/o Precise Edit
1866 Plaza del Sur, 138 Santa Fe, NM 87505
9780982267455, $13.95
No one is going to get better at writing without practice. "300 Days of Better Writing: A Daily Handbook for Improving Your Writing" is a guide for daily exercises to improve one's writing in a gradual manner, encouraging clarity, good grammar, and conveying one's thoughts and opinions effectively. For anyone seeking a daily writing exercise book, "300 Days of Better Writing" may be the guide for them.
More on Jim and Midwest Review
All of the previous issues of the "Jim Cox Report" are archived on the Midwest Book Review Web site. If you'd like to receive the "Jim Cox Report" directly (and for free), just send Jim an email asking to be signed up for it. MWBOOKRVW@AOL.COM.
Jim Cox
Midwest Book Review
278 Orchard Drive, Oregon, WI, 53575
http://www.midwestbookreview.com/
Jim Cox gave permission to reprint this article. McClelland's permission is implicit in his article.
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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. As a courtesy to the author, please tweet and retweet this post using this little green retweet widget :
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