Time of Year for Children's Picture Book

Title of Book: Adventures of Nutty and Twittles, Oh Nuts! I Lost My Little Sister

Author: Dennis Marcoux
Illustrator: Amy Rottinger
Follow Dennis Marcoux at Facebook https://www.facebook.com/pages/Dennis-Marcoux/286869338186554
Publisher: Halo Publishing, Int.
ISBN Number: 978-1-61244-274-7
Publication Date: September 2014
Genre of Book: Children’s Picture Book

Review provided by: World of Ink Network

About the Book: Nutty and his sister Twittles set out to play a fun game of hide "n" seek with their friends. When Twittles is the only one missing, the game quickly changes.  Nutty has to find his sister because she may be lost in the dark and dangerous Forrest.

 EXCERPT:

Nutty gathered his friends together to explain the rules of the game.

“First, Robby, you can’t hide in the tree tops because no one else has

wings and that wouldn’t be fair.”

Robby flicked his tail when he heard the rule, but he finally said, “Ok.”

Rule number two was no peeking. They all agreed to that one.

“Ok, let’s get started,” said Nutty, his nose twitching with excitement.

“I’ll count to ten and you run and…”

“Hold on a minute,” said Speckles, “I’m a turtle, remember? I don’t

move too swiftly. If you only count to ten, I will still be standing next to

you when you open your eyes.”

This time Nutty’s tail flicked, but he knew Speckles was right. “Ok,” he

muttered, “I will count to twenty-five but no more than that.”

Nutty was about to start the game when he noticed Twittles hanging

back. “What’s wrong Twittles?” asked Nutty.

“I don’t think I want to play,” she answered.

“Why?” Nutty asked.

“Because I always get found first, I never win,” she answered.

Nutty looked at all his friends and thought what can I do?

Speckles broke the silence. “Twittles I have a feeling that today is going

to be a lucky day for you.”

“Really?” Twittles replied as her eyes opened wide.

“Really!” said Speckles.

Nutty covered his eyes with his paws and started counting. “One, two,

three, four….” Everyone scrambled off to find their favorite hiding place.

“Twenty-Five, ready or not here I come.”

What Reviewers Think:

“This is a super-cute story for kids 3 to 8 about siblings and the importance of following rules. The illustrations and the story will keep kids of all ages captivated and glued to the pages of this wonderful picture book.” ~Irene Roth (http://rothsinspiringbooksandproducts.wordpress.com/2014/09/29/book-review-adventures-of-nutty-and-twittles/)

“Kudos to Dennis Marcoux for giving children an exciting story with fun animal characters who keep young readers engaged and interested.” ~Terri Forehand (http://terri-forehand.blogspot.com/2014/11/book-review-adventures-of-nutty-and.html)

“My daughter brought this book into her Kindergarten class and shared the story with her friends. Her teacher and classmates loved this book! It's a great story that all children can relate to and my daughter is looking forward to more adventures with Nutty and Twittles!” ~Lynn Hudak

“As a child play therapist, I especially appreciate the important message that encourages children to hear adult warnings not as constraints, but as critical details meant to ensure a fun, safe and enjoyable experience. This book is a welcomed addition to my office library. I eagerly await the next adventure of Nutty, Twittles, and their friends.” ~Deborah Haggett, Ed.D, MSW, LCSW

 

About the Author: 

Dennis Marcoux lived in Worcester, Massachusetts for most of his life and now resides in Cape Coral, Florida. He has been writing children stories and poems for many years and is passionate about children reading to expand their imagination. In his spare time, you can find him reading books as a volunteer in elementary schools and children's hospitals. He is a member of the Gulf Coast Writers Association of Fort Myers, Florida

Places where available for sale: Halo Publishing International, Amazon and Barnes & Noble

e-Book Available Nook & Kindle 

 

About the World of Ink Tours

Virginia S Grenier  is

Founder & Partner, World of Ink Network

Bringing Authors and Readers Together

http://worldofinknetwork.com

Office: 435-625-1743

She is also Director & Co-Chairman St. George Book Festival

http://stgeorgebookfestival.org and author of Babysiting Sugarpaw

 

Award-winning Author

http://vsgrenier.com 

Follow on Twitter

Like on Facebook

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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.

Empath Continues Path of Helping Others with New Book

Title: The Sensitivity Factor:
Subtitle: The Missing Piece of Understanding Our Health
Author: Janice Carlin
Author Website: http://janicecarlin.com
Twitter: http://twitter.com/theFHS
FB fan page:
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=189617147787827

ISBN:978-1492855248
Genre: health/wellness

Reviewed by: Matthew  originally for Amazon

This book has been helpful to me in understanding my own
hypersensitivity. It is a good overview of the healing process.
She writes with compassion and joy and gives a lot of good
information about healing and all sorts of things. Her own
journey is fascinating and I can relate to much of what she has
experienced. Some of it I skimmed through as it can be a little
repetitive and I am already familiar with the concepts such as
energy, resonance, and vibration.For anyone who is a very
sensitive individual or for someone who is looking for answers
for difficult health issues, this book will be helpful and could
be a life saver. This is a much needed book for a world that is
becoming more and more hectic and unhealthy, and is seeing more
and more immune system disorders from all the toxins (energetic
and physical). If holistic practitioners would read this they
would be able to better help a whole segment of people. I am
going to order her foundations healing process guidebook right
away which is a self healing method that allows you to clear,
stop reactions immediately, and stay grounded. Thank you Janice.

About the Author:

Janice Carlin is the author of The Sensitivity Factor, Be Free,
Toward Ascension, Empathic Sensitivity, and The Foundations
Healing System Guidebook, a natural healing system she developed
for highly sensitive people. She has also authored several
documents and e-books, including Lightworkers Guide To Working In
The Light and Working With Sensitives, Feeding Healthy Families,
Star Child (a children’s Ebook), Helping Your Child To Heal, and
has a chapters in the Transform Your Life! series. Janice is an
author, healer, intuitive channel and teacher. She is a highly
sensitive empath who has learned to use her sensitivity and her
other gifts to be of service in the most beneficial ways that
she can. As a channel, she is committed to sharing only that
channeled information, which is from, with and within The Light
in the highest benefit to all. Janice has a Masters degree in
music conducting and is a certified K – 12 teacher. She spent
many years teaching music to children in public and private
school settings. She developed her healing and intuitive skills
due to her sensitive son’s health needs, as well as her own.
Desiring to follow a path of natural healing and wellness, she
felt entirely helpless in caring for their needs without the
skills and knowledge that so many of the healers they were
seeing had. This led her to embark upon a ten year journey of
learning, awakening, profound healing and transformation. Now,
she and her son are self sufficient in living healthy, thriving
lives. As she experienced her own journey, she realized that so
many other sensitive people and parents of sensitive children
were also feeling frustrated and helpless to create thriving
within their own lives. She became impassioned to share all that
she had learned and developed that was new, different and
completely empowering. Visit her online at Empowered Thriving,
www.janicecarlin.com


SUBMITTED BY
Teresa Morrow aka The Author's Cheerleader
http://theauthorscheerleader.com
Creating opportunities for spiritual authors to gain visibility
on the web. She is host of "Inspiration Nation Radio"
http://blogtalkradio.com/inspirationnationradio, Sharing Inspiration through the World of Words, the author of Life Lessons from the Heart, and Healing from Broken Trust: A Journey of Transformation'
Visit her Web site at http://TeresaMorrow.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.

Story about Foster Care for Puppies

Title of Book: The Adventures of Sir Buddy and Mr. Pupples: The Rescue

Author: Richard McEwan
Illustrator: Amy Rottinger
Author Website: www.twodogstales.com
Publisher: Halo Publishing, Int.
ISBN Number: 978-7-61244-307 -2
Publication Date: November 2014
Genre of Book: Children’s Picture Book

Review provided by: World of Ink Network

About the Book:

This is an engaging story for children to read or have read to them about a lost puppy. Hopefully, it will encourage young ones to think about the story when they come upon a stray dog or cat; and seek the guidance of an adult in helping to find it's family...or new home.

This is a really cute story from a lost dog's point of view. It starts out with a lost pup, named Pupples, scared, dirty and alone in the woods near a road. As the story begins, little kids learn Pupples will not leave or venture too far from where he is lost in case his family comes back to find him. What we liked about this part is it teaches children to also remain where they are if lost. 

As the story continues on, children learn the process animal rescue goes through to find new homes for dogs or any animal, how they find an animal’s owner if lost and also that sometimes animals end up in foster care until a new home can be found.

We found this book to be very universal on topics within and also the picture themselves can be used to enhance storytelling and understanding how a story evolves.

EXCERPT:

Pupples paced the edge of the road. He sniffed, but he could not find the scent of

his mother or siblings. The stench of cars burned his nose. He whimpered. If only
he hadn’t crawled off to sleep under the bush. But his brother had poked and rolled over him so many times that he couldn’t get comfortable. When he woke his family was gone. He had barked and searched, tracking their scent until he lost it at the road.

If he could cross, maybe he would pick it up again. He placed a paw on the black

surface. He took two steps then froze as a car swerved to miss him. A horn blared and he raced back to the side of the road. He crouched panting and shaking amongst the weeds. He waited until it was quiet and forced himself to try again.

Every time Pupples took a few steps onto the road, cars appeared forcing him to
run back. He howled in frustration.

 

About the Author: 

Richard McEwan retired to the Outer Banks of North Carolina after a long career in sales, marketing and advertising. He lives with his wife, Christie, and their two dogs, Buddy and River, one cat named Oyster and many photos of foster dogs. He was inspired to begin writing because of his grandchildren's love of books.

 

BOOK TRAILER : http://youtu.be/0ZdOCfAO99s?list=UUjcOpPUInovIAsrR8HLtxYA

To learn more about the World of Ink Tours visit http://worldofinknetwork.com. Virginia S. Grenier is founder and partner. Phone: 435-625-1743. Follow them on Twitter and like them on Facebook.  Virginia is the author of Babysitting Sugarpaw. Learn more about her at http://vsgrenier.com.

 

 

----- 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.

Bone Up on Puccini and Have an Italian Crime Romp

Book title: Murder in Hand
Series: Alicia Allen Investigates Book Three

Author: Celia Conrad
Website: http://www.aliciaalleninvestigates.com
Where to buy the book: Amazon http://tinyurl.com/njd3bwl
Genre: Crime fiction
ISBN: 9780954623340 (Paperback) Also available in all ebook formats
Publisher: Barcham Books

Reviewed by  Marlan Warren originally for

“Dancing in the Experience Lane” Open Salon Blog

 

"Murder in Hand": Italian Probate, Puccini, & Dead Lawyers

 

Lawyers aren't the most popular people, Miss Allen..."

—Murder in Hand

 

     In her cerebral legal mystery, Murder in Hand, Celia Conrad pulls her feisty London Probate/Estate lawyer heroine, Alicia Allen, deeper into the quagmire world of unscrupulous attorneys, the unfortunates who work with them and their unsuspecting innocent victims. In this third book of the Alicia Allen Investigates Trilogy (AAI), Conrad hits her stride as a bona fide puzzle master in the tradition of Agatha Christie. The easy-to-follow plot line keeps readers guessing and the pages turning, while great pleasures lie in Conrad's refusal--or perhaps inability--to write for the lowest common denominator of brain power. Instead she aims for the highest. 

     If you want to roll with Alicia Allen...better bring your A-Game (and some knowledge of the Classics wouldn't hurt).

      Murder in Hand could be enjoyed as a stand-alone book if readers don't mind not knowing the history between the justice-loving attorney Alicia Allen and her adoring cohort Alex Waterford; her investigator friends, Jo and Will; or her cultured elderly neighbor Dorothy. 

     The story takes off when Alicia's Italian American client Fabio confides that he believes someone is trying to kill him. Fabio's family ties span New York, England and Italy/Sicily; and when his sister is killed in the midst of doing some family estate research in Italy, Alicia embarks on a quest to find the killer. 

"I can't leave you alone for a few hours without somebody else being murdered."—Murder in Hand 

 

      As in Books 1 and 2 (A Model Murder and Wilful Murder), Alicia leaps where proverbial angels fear to tread, resisting Alex's concerns for her safety. and soon he is helping her sort the puzzle pieces as the body count goes up (with the neat twist that as they hone in, it is lawyers or their assistants who are now dropping dead). Their relationship has matured into an easy partnership built on love, trust and the potato chip that rhymes with "Tingles." It provides a soothing stability that contrasts with the dark, random world of mayhem they are navigating together.   

 

"I generally advise my clients to make both a British and an Italian Will."—Murder in Hand 

 

     All the AAI books turn on classical theater or operatic references or clues. Murder in Hand pays homage to Gianni Schicchi (which Puccini based on Danté's Divine Comedy), a comic opera about a dead man's Will gone wrong, schemers and estate swindlers. And it won't be spoiling too much to divulge that key action takes place in the Italian town that hosts an annual Puccini festival.

     The book's title is a double entendre. British police refer to an investigation in progress as "in hand." And as for the other meaning...well, you'll just have to read the book, won't you?

      (Hint: Bone up on your Puccini!)

 

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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.

Outdoors, Pennsylvania Make Book a Winner for Goodreads Reviewer

Title: A Season on the Allegheny

Author: Robert T. Hilliard
Author's Website: http://www.facebook.com/ASeasonontheAllegheny
Genre: Nonfiction, Outdoors
ISBN-13: 978-1475201161
Available on Amazon

Reviewer Name: Diane (Goodreads Reviewer)

Reviewer's Rating: 5 out of 5 Stars

Even though I'm not a hunter, and I've never been to the Allegheny National Forest, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. OK, part of it is chauvinism: I'm a Pennsylvanian, and the author makes clear the uniqueness of this chunk of Pennsylvania, which makes me proud. I'm also a big fan of public ownership of wilderness lands, having spent many happy vacations camping, hiking, kayaking and canoeing in national and state parks. The merits of the book itself, though, are what I found most appealing. Although much of it is the story of a nine-month season of hunting in the ANF, the author weaves in a great deal of information about the forest, its history, its current uses (recreational and commercial), disputes, and stories of other hunters, both those he hunts with in this season and some from history. 

For me it was also a very intriguing look at the interrelationships between hunters, the damage caused by over-large deer populations, and the ability of the forest to maintain itself, as well as glimpses of the science behind the Forest Service's interventions and attempts to strengthen the health of the forests, rivers, marshlands, etc. It gave me greater respect for hunters, and a compelling desire to spend some time in the Forest, myself. This one's a keeper!

 

About the Author:
Robert Hilliard has written numerous feature articles for magazines such as Upland Almanac, Pennsylvania Wildlife, Pittsburgh History Magazine, ESPNOutdoors.com, Ohio Game and Fish, and Pennsylvania Game and Fish. Hilliard was also a contributing author for the 2000 book Rivers of Destiny. 

You can follow Rob on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/ASeasonontheAllegheny , Google+ at plus.google.com/+RobertHilliard , or on Twitter @RobHilliard_66

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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.

Creative Stock Advice Rated "A Keeper"

Title: Dual Momentum InvestingSubtitle: An Innovative Strategy for Higher Returns with Lower Risk

Author: Gary Antonacci

Author website: http://www.gary-antonacci.com
Nonfiction: Investing>Stocks

ISBN 10: 0071849440
ISBN 13: 978-0071849449

Book publisher: McGraw-Hill

Purchase link: http://www.amazon.com/Dual-Momentum-Investing-Innovative-Strategy

Reviewed by Brenda Jubin for originally for Reading the Markets blog

In 2012 Gary Antonacci won the Wagner Award for his paper “Risk Premia Harvesting Through Dual Momentum”; the year before he was the runner-up with “Optimal Momentum Investing.” Now, with Dual Momentum Investing (McGraw-Hill) he has given the investing world a first-rate book-length analysis of the two kinds of momentum and how to combine them to beat the market.

For those who think momentum investing is “so 90’s,” Wesley Gray, coauthor of Quantitative Value, sets them straight. In his laudatory preface to the book he quotes Eugene Fama, who, despite the apparent challenge to his efficient market hypothesis, admitted that “momentum is pervasive.” But why is it pervasive, and how can investors capture the momentum anomaly?

Antonacci focuses on the second question but does address the first in a short chapter “Rational and Not-So-Rational Explanations of Momentum.” Let me start there. The rational explanation for why momentum works is that “high momentum profits are compensation for assuming greater amounts of risk.” The “not-so-rational” explanation is that “investors behave unexpectedly and irrationally in systematic and predictable ways.” (p. 36) In a nutshell, “herding/anchoring/ confirmation bias and the disposition effect complement each other and can lead to a unified, behaviorally based concept of momentum-inducing behavior.” (p. 43) If behavioral finance is more or less correct, “momentum lets us profit from human behavioral biases instead of being subject to them in adverse ways.” (p. 44)

All well and good, the reader might say. But we are all familiar with the adage that the trend is your friend--until it ends. How can the investor profit from momentum instead of being swept away by it?

Antonacci has thoroughly researched this question. Most important, he distinguishes between relative and absolute momentum. Relative strength “compares an asset to its peers in order to predict future performance. In academic research, relative momentum is often the same as cross-sectional momentum, which involves sectioning a universe of individual assets into equal segments and comparing the performance of the strongest segments (‘winners’) to the performance of the weakest (‘losers’).” By contrast, when viewed on an absolute or longitudinal basis, “an asset’s own past predicts its future.” (p. 84) Absolute momentum is “a bet on the continuing serial correlation of returns, or, in cowboy terms, absolute momentum says, ‘A horse is easiest to ride in the direction it’s already going.’” (p. 85)

The major weakness of relative momentum investing is that “relative strength does little to reduce downside exposure. Relative momentum may even increase downside volatility.” (p. 84) Absolute momentum, by contrast, not only provides greater downside portfolio protection than relative momentum; it even provides more downside protection than low volatility portfolios do “while preserving more upside market potential. It can also do this without the tracking error, sector concentration, and high turnover issues associated with low volatility portfolios.” (p. 88)

Antonacci’s recommendation is a deceptively simple one: “use absolute and relative together in order to gain the advantages of both. The way we do that is by first using relative momentum to select the best-performing asset over the preceding 12 months. We then apply absolute momentum as a trend-following filter by seeing if the excess return of our selected asset has been positive or negative over the preceding year. If it has been positive, that means its trend is up and we proceed to use that asset. If our asset’s excess return over the past year has been negative, then its trend is down and we invest instead in short- to intermediate-term fixed-income instruments until the trend turns positive.” (p. 89)

This is a dynamic approach to asset allocation, using only stocks and bonds for reasons that the author explains. The model (Global Equity Momentum--GEM) switches between the S&P 500 and the ACWI ex-U.S. based on relative strength momentum and uses aggregate bonds as a safe haven during bear markets based on absolute momentum signals taken from the S&P 500.

Between 1974 and 2013 GEM had an annual return of 17.43%, which soundly trumped relative momentum (14.41%), absolute momentum (12.66%), ACWI (8.85%) and ACWI + AGG (8.59%). Its annual Sharpe ratio was 0.87, in contrast to 0.52, 0.57, 0.22, and 0.28. And its maximum drawdown was 22.72%, as opposed to 53.06%, 23.76%, 60.21%, and 45.74%. “GEM benefited from absolute momentum in 1982, 2001, and 2009, when relative momentum offered no advantage over the market. On the other hand, GEM benefited most from relative momentum in 1986 through 1988 and 2004 through 2007 when stocks were strong and absolute momentum provided no advantage over the market.” (p. 105)

Although GEM is a simple long-term model, it is powerful. Antonacci’s extensive research and his clear-headed thinking have led to a book that every investor should read. The academically oriented reader will be grateful for his occasional excursions into the weeds, his carefully laid-out data, and his lengthy bibliography. The practically oriented investor will find a road map for moving ahead and staying out of really big trouble. And those who enjoy an infusion of humor will laugh at his mini-essay “All Aboard!” that wraps up the main text of book. This one’s a keeper!

MORE ON THE AUTHOR
Gary Antonacci is a portfolio management consultant and award-winning writer. Learn more at  http://optimalmomentum.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.

Barbara Venkataraman Leaves You Smiling

“A Trip to the Hardware Store & Other Calamities”
 By Barbara Venkataraman

Genre: Humor

ASIN: B00IO94GAY
Author's blog: www.barbaravenkataraman.blogspot.com
Published on Amazon
Reviewed with five stars

Reviewed by Brad Teare originally for Amazon

This review is from: A Trip to the Hardware Store & Other Calamities: Quirky Essays for Quirky People (Audible Audio Edition)

This is a collection of humorous stories akin to Erma Bombeck to which the author will be oft compared. Some of the stories were laugh-out-loud funny. I especially enjoyed Lazybones and Gadget. Writing comedy is really hard and I take my hat off to any author who can do it well. I listened to the Audible book audio and I really liked the narrator. Her voice is similar to Kristen Bell (Veronica Mars). Her voice has a young, perky timbre that is easy to listen to and apropos for humorous writing.

The only reason I deduct a star is I didn't think the first two stories were the best and I felt the collection was marred by them being first. It's a slight gripe I know but if I were editor I would have started with Lazybones which was very insightful as well as funny. But that bit about being a waitress and the customer wanting the omelet pie (I don't want to spoil anything) was hilarious. I think I will add a star just for that episode alone. So five stars it is!

 

 

ABOUT THE BOOK

 

Winner of the "Indie Book of the Day" award and Honorable Mention for nonfiction humor in the "Readers' Favorite" Contest. At 8,000 words, this collection of humorous essays explores such quirky topics as: disastrous home repairs, ("A Trip to the Hardware Store"), an unfortunate dinner party ("Dinner is Served"), the truth about lazy people ("Lazy Bones"), the weird life of a debt collector ("Your Account is Past Due") and obsessions with gadgets ("Gadget Girl"). Other essays examine how surreal the aging process is ("Where Did the Time Go?"), why you shouldn't judge a person by their job ("Beyond Belief"), and how to complicate simple transactions ("High Finance"). Like the author's first work, "I'm Not Talking About You, Of Course...," these essays will give your spirit a lift and leave you smiling.

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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.