Christian Nonfiction Reviewed by Author of Fiction

A Place of Healing: Wrestling with the Mysteries of Suffering, Pain and God’s Sovereignty
by Joni Earkeckson Tada
ISBN 978-1596443501
Nonfiction: Christianity
Publisher christianaudio, nonfiction

Originally reviews for Amazon by Holly Weiss, author of Crestmont


Why does God allow pain? Is God concerned with suffering and involved in it? Plato, C.S. Lewis, Rabbi Harold Kushner, Henri Nouwen, the apostle Paul and others have all addressed these age-old questions.


Instead of focusing on how God is involved in the problem of pain, Joni Eareckson Tada chooses instead in her book, A Place of Healing: Wrestling with the Mysteries of Suffering, Pain and God’s Sovereignty, to examine how God can use pain to draw her closer to Himself and lift her above her human sufferings.


Joni, left a quadriplegic from a diving accident four decades ago, is the author of over fifty books and founder of Joni and Friends, an organization devoted to accelerating Christian outreach among those with disabilities. She will serve as the Honorary Chairman of the 2011 National Day of Prayer, held on the First Thursday of May. In addition to coping with the struggles of living from a wheelchair, Joni now has new challenges. She is assaulted with unrelenting, chronic pain and has been diagnosed with cancer.


Her reactions? “Suffering may be a part of God’s…mysterious plan, but God’s intention is always to demonstrate compassion and unfailing love.” Joni illustrates over and over in her book how powerfully God’s love touches her at her deepest point of need.
Her chapter headings ask difficult questions:

• What Benefit is there to My Pain?
• How Can I Go On Like This?
• How Can I Bring Him Glory?
• How Do I Regain My Perspective?

This devout, genuine woman answers each question with tender, heartfelt examples from her walk in faith. Suffering can make us bitter or compassionate. Suffering can drive us away from God or make us fly into His arms. A Place of Healing is her testament to the restorative power of loving, committed service to God, no matter what our circumstances. She rejoices in the fact that God had plans for her life much wider, higher and more profound than she ever could imagine. Her last chapter entitled, “Thank you, God, for this Wheelchair” demonstrates that because of her circumstances, not in spite of them, she is happier as a child of God than she ever dreamed possible.

Do you have a friend or relative struggling with grief, financial loss, health issues or physical pain?

Give them a copy of A Place of Healing. May they find comfort in the profound testimony of someone who treads where they walk, albeit, in a wheelchair.

~The reviewer is Holly Weiss, author of Crestomont. Follow her on Twitter at http://twitter.com/HWeissauthor.


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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 :

Noir Short Stories Reviewed: Move Over Stephen King

Title: Bloodstains On The Wall / Three Stories From The Dark Side

Author: Mike Dennis
Author's website link: http://mikedennisnoir.com/
Genre: Noir
ISBN-13: 978-0615455389
ISBN-10: 0615455387


Originally reviewed by Walter Schmida for Amazon  
Rating: ***** (five stars)


Enter the 'noir' mind of Mike Dennis and you're in another zone, an area where you suspend disbelief. These three entertaining short stories are eerie in inspiration, spare and terse in their language,and brilliantly original in concept. "Block" especially blew my mind. While fresh and original, it had a Rod Serling feel to it that had me humming the theme from The Twilight Zone. I can't wait to read more stories quarried from the dark side of this guy's mind. Move over Stephen King.

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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 :

Todd Rutherford Reviews Business Book

Title - Escaping Oz: Protecting your wealth during the financial crisis

Author – Jim Mosquera
Website – http://www.escapingoz.com/
BISAC – Business & Economics / Investments & Securities
ISBN (13) - Print: 978-1453891216
ePUB: 978-0983296683
Kindle: 978-0983296607

Originally reviewed by Publishing Guru Todd Rutherford for Amazon.com
5.0 out of 5 stars

Jim Mosquera's Escaping Oz: Protecting your wealth during the financial crisis is an intriguing read that delves into questions about why our economy is in such chaos and confusion. The book, using The Wizard of Oz as a metaphor, encourages citizens to understand what they can do to protect their assets and help eradicate the economic mess plaguing our country. More importantly, Mosquera poses critical questions about our country's political and economic future, detailing precisely how we got to be in this position, and how we're going to get out. There is no "wizard" that's going to come to the rescue and the path this economy is following is certainly not the yellow brick road.

In technical terms, Escaping Oz discusses the number one problem in today's economy: "Our economy became overly dependent on lending and borrowing." However, both lending and borrowing are based on confidence from both sides. In other words, the lender has confidence that the borrower will have the means and sources by which to repay the amount of the loan, and of course, the borrower is confident in his/her ability to repay the loan. Right now, confidence is dragging, to put it nicely.


Jim describes how money has been perceived throughout history, from money in the Americas, to money during the Colonial era, and finally the value of money during the War for Independence. The fact is that money is constantly evolving with respect to its value and its use, both at home and abroad.


More than anything else, however, the book revolves around two concepts familiar to the masses: debt and credit. Jim Mosquera poses a number of eye-opening questions and even bolder statements. For example, he states that today, the evolution of money has taken the form of credit. More specifically, he writes, "As of June 2010, there is approximately $13.8 trillion of credit extended to the United States Government." Interestingly, the deficit facing the government is simply the difference between the revenue accrued and the credit amount allotted to the United States.


Two underlying questions that should set off mental alarms far and wide: if the government could eliminate its entire deficit through taxation alone, why isn't it doing it? Why is it widening the deficit gap by tacking on more credit?


Overall, the parallels between The Wizard of Oz and the wizard known as the United States government make this book an informative and enjoyable read. While there is extensive information on government strategies, there is an entire section (Part III) dedicated to the individual's own business model. Jim Mosquera presents his audience with strategies pertaining to bank, real estate, and stock investing, including managing one's portfolio and planning for the future.

Escaping Oz is a must read! And once you have a copy, you should stand up tall, close your eyes and click your heels together, saying, "There's nothing like being debt free, there's nothing like being debt free, there's nothing like . . ."



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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 :

Publisher Reviews Sci-Fi by Doc Meisenheimer

Title: The Immune

Author: Doc Lucky Meisenheimer
Web site: http://www.theimmune.com/
Publisher's Web site:  http://www.ljsspublishing.com/
Genre/Category: Science Fiction
ISBN: 978-0-9667612-2-1


Reviewed by: Victoria Andrew

The paintbrush I use is history, and history paints the same picture repeatedly. Large centralized governments always cause internal collapse and ultimately destruction of the masses. All governmental evils are justified and rationalized, as necessary, to maintain the all-powerful, all-knowing, current leaders for the good of society. – Doc Lucky Meisenheimer, The Immune


Doc Lucky Meisenheimer’s science fiction debut is being hailed as a prospective masterpiece of American fiction. Meisenheimer has fashioned a capacious yet intricately ordered narrative that in its majestic sweep seems to capture multiple themes executed in a fast-paced, action/adventure plot. Furiously ingenious at this stage in his writing career, Meisenheimer has achieved an incredible feat of imagination, intellect, and matchless writing talent within The Immune, which is sure to engender fiery debate, strong opinions, and much rhapsodizing over his shocking plot twists and turns.


Mainstream readers will most likely deem The Immune as an entertaining, often humorous, and sometimes terrifying escapade of one man’s thirst for vengeance against the deadly stings of biogenetically manufactured creatures and their maniacal, Hilter-esqe inventor, Joseph Sengele. The politically astute will compare the work of Meisenheimer to Heinlein, as his story could be a manifesto advocating individual liberty, free will, and a lack of government regulation and oversight on matters of the economy. Literary academics will perceive it as a beacon lighting the way for a new kind of novel, as Meisenheimer has cracked open the opaque shell of postmodernism, tweezed out its tangled circuitry, and inserted in its place the warm, beating heart of authentic humanism. Like other great literary giants, Meisenheimer conveys the drama of his protagonist’s interior life while vividly conveying a world on the brink of total annihilation. As his contemporaries diminish the place of the single human being in complex plot conceptualizations, Meisenheimer has enlarged it while evoking empathy, excitement, revulsion, amusement, a thirst for justice, and sleepless nights of rapid page turning within his readers.


John Long, a distinguished physician and avid swimmer, and his fiancé, Cassandra, emerge from a romantic rendezvous in Grand Cayman only to discover the shocking news of massive deaths occurring across the world from the virulent, lethal stings of a biogenetically manufactured phenomenon named airwars. Such creatures resemble gargantuan Man O’ Wars which have gone airborne, mercilessly wounding and killing seemingly random, innocent souls. A rapidly formed world government, entitled the Airwar Scientific Council (consisting of scientists, politicians, and military members) emerges to disseminate world policy to all governments, resulting in the amelioration of free speech and calling for total gun confiscation.
John Long’s seemingly idyllic life and thriving practice in Orlando, FL come to a screeching halt with the disappearance and announced death of his fiancé in the midst of the chaos. Consumed with grief and burning rage, John confronts and surprisingly defeats his first airwar discovered when its monstrous self is siphoning water in Orlando’s Lake Eola. His murder of the first airwar by suffocation was impulsive, dangerous, and driven by reckless fury, earning him massive fame for being one of the rare, extraordinary individuals who are immune to the poisonous, paralyzing stings.


Much to our horror, readers discover that such “Immunes” are surreptitiously and forcefully sent to a processing plant owned and operated by the government, where they are tortured and skinned alive in order to extract proteins secreted from an Immune’s sebaceous glands used to manufacture aerosol sprays providing members of the Airwar Scientific Council protection from the deadly airwar stings.

However, John’s destiny is salvaged by the “ultimate PR genius of the world,” Admiral Beckwourth, who restores humanity’s faith in government intervention to the airwar crisis by formulating an “Immune Corp” attack force, with John Long as their leader. Readers will become immersed in Meisenheimer’s triumphs of characterizing the Immune Corp team members as they endeavor to kill and destroy as many airwars as possible. Meisenheimer paints one terrifying airwar attack scene after the other with vivid detail and enthralling description of the various types of airwars populating the sky, while instilling admiration for John’s bravery and catalyzing cathartic release with each successful airwar downing.


The plot thickens as we discover an advanced, alien race (referred to as Krones) have contacted prominent world leaders with promises of opportunities “beyond their wildest dreams” - including immortality - in return for their cooperation with their plot of selecting political leaders, key military personnel, scientists, and their families as “The Chosen.” Attitudes, intellect, political strength, compatibility, and one’s propensity for even treachery were considered behind their selection, thus reminiscent of Nazi endeavors to create an ideal, Aryan race.

We discover the Krones are the one who have actually created airwars as a diversion tactic in order to prepare the earth for their alien strike force involving 60-foot tsunamis (with the advanced application of force fields) to wipe out the majority of humanity in preparation for a Krone colonization of the earth, in which “The Chosen” are supposedly to be saved.


However, one intrepid and ingenious character, Admiral Beckwourth, cultivates a brilliant plot coined by Meisenheimer as an “FS Maneuver”, which is a keystone of public relations campaigns and “a deception hiding an underlying agenda.” With audacity and intrepid valor, Beckwourth endeavors to annihilate the greatest alien, military force in the history of the earth to save humanity from an apocalypse.
Does he succeed? We highly recommend you read the book now available for pre-sales at LJS&S Publishing http://www.immune.com/  and coming to a store near you on May 13, 2011.

~Reviewer Victoria Andrew is owner and director of Words Prevail, LLC. Visit http://www.wordsprevail.com/  for more information. Their blog is at http://www.wordsprevail.wordpress.com/. For her articles on Career Transition, visit http://www.examiner.com/career-transition-in-orlando/victoria-andrew /

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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 :

Romance Author Reviews Short Story Collection

Title: Five Good Short Stories - Volume 1

Author: Sam E. Jones
Author's web link site: Http://amazon.com/dp/B004G5ZUHS
Genre or Category: Fiction, short stories
ISBN/ASBN: B004G5ZUHS



 Reviewed by Anne Barbour


Sam E. Jones offers us a four-volume package of five short stories each. Following the review guidelines I’ll speak only of Vol. I. It is aptly entitled Five Good Short Stories, Vol. I. The stories are very short, and very, very good. He writes in a quirky, sort of avant garde style, which is not my favorite genre. Being a reader and writer of novels—frivolous novels, at that—I rarely read short stories.. However, when I was introduced to Mr. Jones’ work, I thought I’d avail myself of this reasonably priced ($4.99 per volume) opportunity to stretch my mind. To my surprise, I was delighted.


Mr. Jones, I think, is a born stretcher of minds. His writing consists of finely crafted slices of life, and he can produce more insight into the human condition in a few hundred words than most writers contrive in several thousand. He pulls us into little wedges of his protagonist’s time on this planet, thus leaving the reader feeling that he has turned over some of the many secrets that scurry in the darkness of our own souls. The results are at times exhilarating, painful at others, but always revealing.


Mr. Jones’ short stories are rare, individual treasures. I don’t mean precious jewels, though the comparison is appropriate. No, reading his tales is more like walking along an alien seashore—perhaps encountering small, exotic marine creatures, or a tiny windswept bird. I love the diversity he displays, pursuing in each story a different facet of what seems to the casual observer an ordinary person. With precision he peels away the layers, revealing fascinating bits of mind and soul. Some of the vignettes are charming, some poignant, and others are belly-tickling funny.
As I said, his style is unusual and difficult to describe. He often writes in the first person, which is uniquely suited to his custom of starting his stories off in the middle of a situation. Just as often, the situation is not resolved at the end of the story. We are left with a plateful of clues, and the compelling need to roll the plights of his people around in our minds in an effort to figure out what will come after we have turned the last page.


All in all, I do recommend the occasional mind-stretch, particularly when it comes in the form of such a pleasurable read. By me, Sam Jones is a real find, and I hope he will turn out many more of his explorations of the human scene.

~The reviewer is Anne Barbour, author of fourteen Regency Romance novels, published by NAL/Signet, a subsidiary of Penguin Putnam.

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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 :

Radio Host Reviews Travel Writer

Lost Angel Walkabout-One Traveler's Tales

By Linda Ballou
Author's Web site: http://www.lindaballouauthor.com/
Travel Literature
ISBN 978-1449971526



Originally Reviewed byYolanda Renee, Author and Radio Host for her blog, http://yolandarenee.com/





Recent poor health had me looking for an escape. When I picked up Linda Ballou’s book LOST ANGEL WALKABOUT, I found my salvation. Linda combines her most favorite things to create a book of adventures like nothing I have ever read. She blends her love of travel, and writing, and in several stories her love of horses, and with unsurpassed skill she takes the reader with her to places like Raven’s River, Alaska, to windswept Donegal Bay, Ireland, to Waipio Valley in Hawaii, and North Island, New Zealand to name just a few. Linda not only takes you on a journey to exciting places and distant lands she shares herself along the way. Her stories are personal, enlightening, and captivating.


Raven’s River is a particularly touching tale because it is a memorial to Matthew Wayne Bell, her nephew. It is a trip that entails a 140-mile journey, on the Tatshenshini, or Raven’s River and includes white water rafting and hiking on bear trails. Linda shares her adventure and her love for Matt, as she educates us on the environment. Raven’s River is a beautiful story of honor and discovery that is shared with grace and love.


I particularly enjoyed her journey in Golden Horseshoe or Bust. Linda, her 83-year-old mother, and nephew take off on a road trip. Her mother is insistent on driving. It is a typical family argument that adds amusement to this beautiful journey. Linda shares this memory of a courageous woman, with adventure in her soul, with a view in to her own. We learn even more about Linda and her mother in Water Dogs. These personal insights make this book of travel stories more like a novel.


LOST ANGEL WALKABOUT is more than a travel log, it is about Linda, the family she loves, the history of the lands and peoples she visits, and the folks she admires most, including adventure writer Tom Cahill and Horsewoman Lari Shea. I highly recommend this book: whether you are trying to plan your next journey, escape from your own couch, or want to inspire a young trailblazer.
You can check out all of Linda’s adventures and her historical novel Wai-nani, High Chiefess of Hawai’i; Her Epic Journey at http://www.lindaballouauthor.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 :

Book Maker Michael N. Marcus Reviews Book for Authors

The Frugal Book Promoter
Subtitle: How to get nearly free publicity on your own or by partnering with your publisher
By Carolyn Howard-Johnson
ISBN: 9781463743291
Available on Amazon at www.budurl.com/FrugalBkPromo
and Kindle at www.budurl.com/FrugalBkProKindle


Reviewed by Book Maker Michael N. Marcus originally for Book Making blog

Carolyn Howard-Johnson (www.sharingwithwriters.blogspot.com) is an award-winning author and a former publicist. With a last name that makes me keep thinking about fried clam strips and ice cream, Carolyn serves up a large portion of useful info and advice. Her book, The Frugal Book Promoter: How to Do What Your Publisher Won’t was one of the first books I bought when I started self publishing in 2008, and it has been extremely useful.

It has just been updated with a new subtitle ("How to get nearly free publicity on your own or by partnering with your publisher") that recognizes self-publishing, and it has been expanded to include simple ways to promote books using newer technology. I bought the new book a few days ago and recommend it highly. It can empower you to give your book the best possible start in life.

Book promotion has changed tremendously since publication of the first "Frugal" in 2004, particularly because of the web, e-books and the growing acceptance of self-published books. So, this new edition includes lots of information on ways to promote that were not around or were in their infancy a few years ago.

Here's some of what's new: (1) The Second Edition has been reorganized. (2) It's much bigger -- so it can be much more helpful. (3) Updates on writers’ conferences, getting reviews, book fairs and trade shows; media releases, query letters and media kits; working with a professional publicist; "backdoor methods" of getting reviews -- even long after a book has been published (4) Online bookstores (5) Blogging (6) Social networks (7) Avoiding scam-traps

"Frugal" shows you how to promote your book with powerful but inexpensive or even free publicity. Carolyn points out important publicity possibilities that you may not think of, like reviewing other authors’ books.

The promotional tips are not just theory -- they come from Carolyn’s own successful book campaigns. Several ideas will certainly be right for you and your book.

Most new writers have much more time than money, and this book can help you achieve big-buck results with minimum use of your credit cards -- and no federal bailout. “Frugal” belongs on every author’s shelf, whether you are an independent self-publisher, are using a self-publishing company or a traditional publisher.

Here are some of Carolyn’s tips:

• Read, read, read: Even your junk mail can be useful. My daughter found a flier from the local library in the Sunday paper stuffed between grocery coupons. It mentioned a display done by a local merchant in the library window. My book was displayed in their lobby and I became a seminar speaker for their author series. Rubbish (even spam email) can be valuable.
• Keep an open mind for promotion ideas: Look at the different themes in your book. There are angles you can exploit when you’re talking to editors. My book, This is the Place is romantic and set in Salt Lake City, the site where the winter Olympic games were played in 2002. I found sports desks and feature editors open to it as Olympics fervor grew, and even as it waned.
• Etiquette counts: Send thank-you notes to contacts after they’ve featured you or your book. This happens so rarely they are sure to be impressed and to pay attention to the next idea you have, even if it’s just a listing in a calendar for your next book signing.
• Publicize who you are, what you do: Reviews aren’t the only way to go. Think of angles for human interest stories, not only about your book but about you as its author. Are you very young? Is writing a book a new endeavor for you? Several editors have liked the idea that I wrote my first book at an age when most are thinking of retiring, that I think of myself as an example of the fact that it is never too late to follow a dream.
• Develop new activities to publicize: Don’t do just book signings. Use your imagination for a spectacular launch. Get charities involved. Think in terms of ways to help your community.
• Frequency is important: The editor who ignores your first release may pay more attention to your second or 25th. She will come to view you as a source and call you when she needs to quote an expert. This can work for novels as well as nonfiction. Publicity is like planting bulbs. It proliferates even when you aren’t trying.

Even if you are lucky enough to have a huge promotion budget and don't need to be frugal, Carolyn has important advice and information for you. Buy the book.

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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 . As a courtesy to the author, please tweet and retweet this post using this little green retweet widget :