The New Book Review

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.

Saturday, March 28, 2020

Dr. Wesley Britton Explores StarWarsday for Starwars Fans

THE GALAXY BRITAIN BUILT: The British Talent Behind Star Wars 
David Whiteley 
Foreword By Robert Watts: Star Wars Production Supervisor And Producer 
Publisher: BearManor Media
Release date: December 11, 2019
ASIN: B081YKQ2P7


Reviewed by Wesley Britton originally for BookPleasures

David Witeley's exploration into the behind-the-scenes British talent involved with the Star Wars franchise was first made public in a 1917 60-minute documentary broadcast over BBC television.     Google the title The Galaxy Britain Built, and you'll hit on the YouTube and BBC trailers, videos, and interviews conducted by David Whiteley promoting the film throughout 2017 and especially 2018.

If you explore any of Whiteley's online videos or his new BearManor Media book, you'll quickly learn how proud he is to have been born on May 4, 1977, known to fans as Star Wars day. So, in his opinion, he grew up with the franchise and became devoted to investigating how so much Star Wars work took place in Elstree Studios in North London. Why London and not Hollywood? Costs. The studios didn't want to invest too heavily in a science-fiction film as sci-fi hadn't been big box office for them. 

As it turned out, the British talent who worked on the films on the smallest of budgets and the tightest of schedules were just what the project needed, especially in terms of costumes, props, and sets. The results were so outstanding that Lucas returned to Elstreet again and again, using as much of the original talent as he could retain.


Whiteley's book chronicles to beginnings of the British work in the hot summer of 1976 through undreamed of sequels produced decades later. The stories are built on interviews with participants even the most devoted Star Wars aficionados might not have heard of: These include Robert Watts, Les Dilley, Nick Maley, Roger Christian, Peter Beale, Gareth Edwards, Colin Goudie and Louise Mollo. 

All of those involved contribute so many anecdotes about how the Star Wars mythos came to be. For example, Roger Christian tells us, "We called it the laser sword because we were British! I knew the lightsaber was the Excalibur of this film! I knew it would be the iconic image . . . I went to Brunnings on Great Marlborough Street in London, whom we rented all our film equipment from: photography, anything we needed, and I’d buy equipment there. I just said to the owner, ‘Do you have anything here that’s unusual, or stuff that might be interesting?’ He pointed me over to the side of the room. He said, ‘There’s a load of boxes under there, I haven’t looked at those for years, go and have a rummage through.’ And it was the first box, it literally was covered in dust. It hadn’t been out for, I don’t know, fifteen or twenty years. I pulled it out, opened the lid and there was tissue paper and then when I pulled it open . . . out came a Graflex handle from a 1940s press camera. I just took it and I went ‘There it is! This is the Holy Grail.’"

The Galaxy Britain Built is page-after-page of such nuggets and revelations.  I imagine many diehard Star Wars fans will have heard many of these stories before. But I doubt all of them

Without question, you got to be a serious Star Wars fan to one degree or another to want to dive into this book, no matter how much you think you already know about the production history of the saga.    It's a fast read as we get one short chunk of one interview, then another, then another, and so on.  I definitely had a feeling I was taken behind the sets and scripts and actors to see how a galaxy far away had been built with a deepened sense of just how collaborative moviemaking is. If that sort of stuff is your cuppa tea, then David Whiteley's book is just for you.

This review first appeared at BookPleasures.com on Sun. Jan. 12, 2020:

 MORE ABOUT THE REVIEWER

Dr. Wesley Britton, is a frequent reviewer for The New Book Review, author of The Beta Earth Chronicles and reviewer for BookPleasures.com.  Learn more about his and his work: 





Dr. Wesley Britton Explores StarWarsday for Starwars Fans


MORE ABOUT THE  BLOGGER AND WAYS TO GET THE MOST FROM THIS BLOG


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

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



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

Saturday, March 14, 2020

Dr. Bob Rich Reviews Inspirational Poetry


Title: Lost in Wonder
Author: Matthew Buonocore 
Available on Amazon
ASIN: B0842QDHKM
Genre: Inspirational Poetry

Reviewed by Dr. Bob Rich

When I read, I like to get immersed in a story. Poetry doesn’t allow this, so I thought twice before accepting a review copy of this collection of poems from Matthew Buonocore.
I made the exception because each of these little snippets of thought expresses exactly my philosophy. Matthew and I are kindred spirits, on the same path.

The reason for life is to progress in spiritual growth, until we reach enlightenment. In our very different ways, Matthew and I are showing you the path for achieving the meaning of life: Love; seeking god inside instead of chasing happiness outside; inner beauty.
My roadmap is a story. Matthew’s is a few carefully chosen words that force you to think, and then to feel.

You can’t race through this book. I suggest, read one poem, then let it germinate and flower before reading the next. This may give you months of meditation in words.
If thoughtful, gentle inspiration is your thing, you can’t go past this jewelry case of a book.

The Author Shares

I'm a poet and a writer from Central New York. My work consists of affirmations, quotes and poems of the divine nature. My work tells my story, it conveys each step I’ve taken in my journey towards personal freedom. My books are dedicated to my lovely girlfriend Alaina, who helped me see my worth and grasp the meaning of unconditional love. Growing up I always felt the call to do something beyond the “norm”; to follow my heart regardless of what others told me. Beneath everything, I find myself called to put out my message and my “heart-song”. It's very easy to forget that life is completely subject to each individual choice made, and these writings helped me to grasp the potential of trusting my true self.

This is a book of poems and affirmations to awaken the soul. Each poem provides a new vibratory experience that guides the reader towards spiritual growth. This book is my journey from awakening to present day. The book is meant as a catalyst for spiritual growth, the goal being to ignite the fire that lies dormant. We are all called to serve, to serve ourselves and then the world. Let this be a message to all that would choose the path of service, the true path. As each fear disintegrates we walk closer to the truth of our nature, and this is my truth.

About the Reviewer

Dr. Bob Rich is an apprentice Buddha. But, did you know, so are you? In fact, every sentient being in our universe is an apprentice Buddha.

If you want to know what that entails, visit Bob’s blog, Bobbing Around https://bobrich18.wordpress.com and look around. You are guaranted to be entertained, amused, informed, possibly outraged — but never bored. You can learn more about him at http://bobswriting.com  and/or subscribe to his eclectic newsletter, Bobbing Around, at https://bobrich18.wordpress.com. Tweet with him @bobswriting. His motto is: 

Commit random acts of kindness

Live simply so you may simply live


Dr. Bob Rich Reviews Inspirational Poetry

MORE ABOUT THE BLOGGER, THIS BLOG, AND ITS BENEFITS FOR WRITERS

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

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



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

Tuesday, March 10, 2020

Poet Reviewing Poet: Theresa Rodriguez Intrigues with Take on Chronicles in Passing

Author: Carol Smallwood 
Title: Chronicles in Passing
Publisher: Poetic Matrix Press, P.O. Box 1051, Lake Isabella, CA, 93240, 2019. 
102 pp. $17.00.
Available on Amazon

Reviewed by Theresa Rodriguez

The thing that struck me most strongly upon reading Carol Smallwood's Chronicles in Passing is the complete command of classical forms: the Rondeau, the Cinquain, the Pantoum, the Triolet, the Vianelle, and the Sestina. Smallwood displays fine technical mastery while uniquely using classical forms to frame her focus on the mundane and commonplace. Her writing flows with ease within the structure and rhyming of the classical forms. One can clearly see, as Smallwood mentions in her Introduction, that she “finds writing in formal style enjoyable” by “giving readers something extra,” “like presenting a box wrapped in a special paper with a bow.”

What I could also appreciate is that she does not limit herself only to formal or classical verse but recognizes that “there are times... when words in free verse are better in conveying the intended message,” in her endeavor to “try what fits.” I was glad to see free verse that did “fit” the intended topics very well.

Smallwood does indeed write about the mundane and commonplace, but her treatment of these topics is anything but mundane and commonplace. She manages to deftly take the mundane and transform it into the sublime. She gives weight and dignity to topics of life that might normally be overlooked. Blue jeans, the supermarket, clothes on a clothesline, a car wash, store flyers, homemade quilts and clothing, ballroom dancing, grocery shopping, going to a restaurant, dirt roads, spools of thread, clothing fashion, and the color pink-- none of these topics escapes Smallwood's decisive treatment. It causes one to be mindful of some of the ordinary things of life, things that can be shaped into works of great beauty, especially by the mind and pen of a skilled poet. It has given me an appreciation of our common world in a way I had not had before reading this volume. It has taught me to seek out the simple things and find the poetry in them. Smallwood most definitely has done this, in great measure!

I also enjoyed her sense of imagery and description which can be found throughout the volume. For instance, in one of my favorites “A Hardcover Book,” Smallwood talks about being perceived as some kind of anachronism by carrying around a hardcover book as opposed to “a small electronic tool,” as “quite the dinosaur, out of touch and even speckled with mold” (8). In her free verse “The Place of the Cure of the Soul,” Smallwood describes “something about the feel of books, the crackle of newspapers, smell of magazines and in owning them” (14). In her Vianelle “Counting Backwards,” she shares how

“...the chatter near Christmas Day
was irritating, but told it was just feminine hormone delay
and before long it would be better so wisely didn't reply when addressed” (17).

In “The Hovering,” deities are “defined in other cultures as weavers of destiny upon a tapestry loom” (19). In her Sestina “A Regular” we are given a lovely image of salt on a tray: 

“... I noticed its salt sprinkles made a vast night sky full of wonder
and understand why our ancestors made stories of constellations” (26).

In “There Were Only,” she describes “gentle rain reinforcing the nose as the most elemental of the senses” and poignantly thinks of “computers blinking in the empty library like solitary lighthouses” (32).

My favorite, however, is the vianelle “Our Unconscious Censor,”where the subject of writing down dreams upon waking produces some excellent imagery, where one  can “train” to write down dreams as soon as you wake:

“and confront the subterranean fear as if a waiting rattlesnake
coiled in a yawning cavern that's deeper, more terrifying than any hell”

and

“so get rid of the hoary, deep oozing fear making your tremble, shake:
but your built-in censor is a trench against shattering bombshells--”

Finally, she asks:

“Is one a coward not to go ahead and capture dreams, face at daybreak
once and for all-- end the fear-- what could be that awful to dispel?
One can train to write down dreams just as soon as you wake
yet is it best to let your built-in censor block when so much is at stake?” (70)

I also found her many of her choices of rhymes to be ingenious: I have never seen rhymes for “necessary,” “customary,” “shade vary,” “monetary,” “them airy,” and “arbitrary” in one poem before, but this is the quality of inventiveness we find in the Vianelle “An American Icon,” a poem about blue jeans (51). I was equally impressed with the rhyming of “myth” and “Monolith”  in her Pantoum “The Pleiades” (16), and “diverged,” “surged,” “purged,” “converged,” “urged,” and “submerged” in her Vianelle “Two Roads” (68).

In reading her work in this volume I only occasionally see her inner life-- and the moments here and there are intriguing, and make me want her to reveal more. In “The New Galaxy,” she describes a date with “Mitchell,” where an evening at the opera reveals understated but deep feeling:

“...I remembered smiling at the attendant when he
asked 'Did you and your wife enjoy the performance'
because it meant we looked like we belonged together”

She goes on to share how she clutched the program of Aida, “proof that the night was real” and how

“...When Mitchell walked me to my

car in the darkness, his coat blew against me,
a benediction I knew had to be lasting. Would I ever 
know the new galaxy the student had said with such
excitement had just been discovered?” (33)

I like this aspect of her writing, and wish there was more of it: tenderly rendered and touching. We do find more of this revelatory aspect in “A Matter of Nightmares,” where descriptions of  Bob's nightmares are “terrible” and Alison's brother 

“who'd returned from Nam:
unexpected sounds sent him diving under
any cover; certain smells made him shake,
his arms were infected trying to get rid of
“crawly leeches.”

She then describes Lily has having 
“post-traumatic stress disorder first called 
shell shock: that what went on behind white
picket fences was war.” (50)

I do like her understated treatment of the emotionally profound. I only wish there were more moments like this, as they intrigue and attract me. What more does this poet have inside, waiting to be revealed?

Carol Smallwood is to be praised for her skill, perspective, and philosophy over a wide poetic range. Hers is a unique set of senses, capturing sights, sounds, moments, and observations of the everyday world in such a manner that causes the reader to see what is all around him in a fresh, new way.

 MORE ABOUT THE REVIEWER

--Theresa Rodriguez is the author of Jesus and Eros: Sonnets, Poems and Songs (Bardsinger Books, 2015), Sonnets(Bardsinger Books, 2019) and Longer Thoughts (Shanti Arts, 2020).

Poet Reviewing Poet: Theresa Rodriguez Intrigues with Take on Chronicles in Passing


MORE ABOUT THE BLOGGER, THIS BLOG, AND ITS BENEFITS FOR WRITERS

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

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



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

#TheFrugalbookPromoter, #CarolynHowardJohnson, #TheNewBookReview, #TheFrugalEditor, #SharingwithWriters, #reading #BookReviews #GreatBkReviews #BookMarketing

Saturday, March 7, 2020

Secrets from Jennie Nash Who Specializes in Coaching


Read Books All Day & Get Paid For It
Subtitle: The Business of Book Coaching
By Jennie Nash
Publisher: Tree Farm Books, Santa Barbara, CA
ISBN 9781733251105
Nonfiction/Business
Author's  Site: http://JennieNash.com
Contact Reviewer: HoJoNews@aol.com

            Off to the Best Start Possible

Jennie Nash Coaches Those Who Would
Become Publishing Industry Coaches


Reviewed by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, multi award-winning author of The Frugal Book Promoternow in its third edition and other books in her HowToDoItFrugally Series of books for writers. 

Note: Don’t decide on buying this book until you read the subtitle and this review. At first I interpreted the title to mean a book on how to make a business of reviewing books. I am thrilled that it isn’t because, as the owner of AuthorAccelerator.com and the coach of authors who have landed “book deals with Big 5 houses like Scribner, Penguin Random House, Simon Schuster, and Hachette” the author is the one to write this book to help you coach you to success with what you already know and will learn from this book. 

Jennie Nash is not above starting her book with a bit of psychology. Thank goodness. People who coach are incrementally more successful at it if they know how to inspire. To do that well, they must be inspired. Jennie definitely inspires me. 

As an author of books that started as a text for my UCLA classes on marketing books, I often lament that authors don’t find me, my books, or services until after they have made costly mistakes. If you are part of the publishing industry with a yen to help people succeed, this is the perfect place for you to start coaching, too, and avoid big booboos that happen when people haven’t done their homework or—almost worse—have taken advice from people who really don’t have the experience and credibility to help you do the job.  Letting Jennie Nash coach you to be a coach with a well formatted book will make the process about as foolproof as it can get. Further, I always say that learning from books is the most frugal way to get information that prepares you for success.  

Read Books All Day & Get Paid for It is endorsed by Lisa Cron whose books I recommend in the indexes of my books for writers. In future books and editions, this book will be listed there, too!  

Secrets from Jennie Nash Who Specializes in Coaching


MORE ABOUT THE BLOGGER, THIS BLOG, AND ITS BENEFITS FOR WRITERS

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

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



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

Thursday, March 5, 2020

The Wife by Meg Wolitzer Book Review

The Wife 
by Meg Wolitzer
Pages: 228
Kindle, $8.99
ASIN: B00ADSC5KC 
Paperback $10.11
  • ISBN-10: 1982106360
  • ISBN-13: 978-1982106362
  • Scribner; Media Tie-In edition 

The Wife by Meg Wolitzer has become a popular book and movie with rich possibilities for literary group discussions. Actually, there are questions for book clubs to discuss in the back of the book, so a reader needs to look no farther than inside the book for a discussion guide. It is very smart for publishers to include questions in their books and make it easy for people to have access to them. Also, readers can review the questions before arriving at the discussion which should enrich possible thoughts and answers.

The Wife book begins describing the lives of a husband, wife, and children without revealing very much about the complete situation. The timeline flashes back and forth from the award the husband is going to receive back to when they first met. In one such flashback, the children hold out their arms to the wife wanting attention when she is busy helping her husband edit, but it is not until very near the end of the book we find out she is a "working mother." The couple meets when he already has a wife and newborn baby. As a professor, he asks his then student to babysit. She does so, already feeling like she is falling in love with him. Events progress and they marry. The truth of the reasons they do so involves the way women writers are perceived and treated during those times, as well as probably being in love. What do they each get out of the marriage? From the beginning to the end, how do the books he publishes progress?

One person who wants to write a biography of Mr. Castleman, the famous author who will receivthe Helsinki Prize, is annoyingly perceptive and asks the wife (Joan Castleman) many personal questions. She reveals little to him, but he forms a theory anyway. In the book, the couple travels to Finland and the want-to-be biographer is independently also on the plane. The wife is making up her mind to leave her husband on this trip.

The movie differs as the couple and hopeful biographer are on the plane, but also their son travels with them. The daughter is about to have a baby and does not travel or attend the ceremony. The three family members have enough drama to sort through. Cue the sad violin music for much of the movie. The wife has a drink with the biographer and says a little too much, but is strong enough to not divulge everything. The son, in the movie, also meets with the biographer and thinks his theory might be correct. The son confronts his parents while still overseas.

In the movie, liberties are taken and the award will be for the Nobel Prize in Literature. Swedish girls dressed for Santa Lucia day enter their hotel room and sing beautifully. The couple is still in bed having traveled so far and not quite being able to be on a schedule the first day. This little part of the movie is so nice with the beautiful harmonies it is worth listening to again. 

I am trying not to give spoilers, and readers of this blog might already know the painful surprise ending. I knew before I read the book, but it was still engaging and very interesting. The very ending of both the movie and book are memorable with so many different emotions conveyed. 

Thank you for reading, 


The Wife by Meg Wolitzer Book Review


MORE ABOUT THIS BLOG The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. Authors, readers, publishers, and reviewers may republish their favorite reviews of books they want to share with others. 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 and love. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page and in a tab at the top of this blog's home page. Reviews and essays are indexed by genre, reviewer names, and review sites so it may be used a resource for most anyone in the publishing industry. 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. #TheFrugalbookPromoter, #CarolynHowardJohnson, #TheNewBookReview, #TheFrugalEditor, #SharingwithWriters, #reading #BookReviews #GreatBkReviews #BookMarketing

Saturday, February 29, 2020

Poet Carol Smallwood Interviews Indie Friendly Review Pioneer


This interview may be a first for this #TheNewBookReview blog. I try to be choosy about what appears here beyond book reviews. I have long been an adversary of #bookbigoty and any other kind of bigotry so this blog features any submission as long as it is family friendly and has the permission of the original reviewer to reprint it. But "extra" material--that is anything beyond these reviews must help readers, publishers, reviewers, authors and anyone else associated with the publishing industry in a pertinent way.  And, yep! I get to choose. A disclaimer here: Jim Cox has reviewed most if not all of my books--my self-published ones as well as my traditionally published ones--and included them in his newsletter.  And I, because I see the value of what he does, highly recommend Midwest Book Review in several of my HowToDoItFrugally Series of books for writers.  The interviewer, Carol Smallwood, is also a valued contributor of reviews to this blog. So, have fun.  Print or save some of the valuable resource material you are about to find here! (-:
The Carol Smallwood Interview Of Jim Cox 

Jim Cox is the founder of the the highly popular and comprehensive Midwest Book Review. Since 1976 it has  hosted 9 monthly book review magazines such as the Reviewer’s Bookwatch and Internet Bookwatch which are written by volunteer reviewers while the other related magazines are by Midwest Book Review principals and associates.

Smallwood: How did you become the Editor-in-Chief of The Midwest Book Review physically located in Wisconsin?

Jim Cox: In the summer of 1976 I was sitting in a Wednesday night meeting of the Madison Science Fiction Club in a State Street restaurant. The purpose of our weekly get-togethers was to socialize with like minded folk for whom fantasy and science fiction were something more than just another hobby.

Into that night's gathering came a good friend of mine by the name of Hank Luttrell. Hank was a mail order book dealer specializing in comics, mysteries, and science fiction - and whose ambition was to create his own bookstore (which he subsequently did and it's still in business here in Madison, Wisconsin, as 20th Century Books).

Hank came in with a copy of an expensive coffee-table sized book called "The Toynbee-Ikeda Dialogue," It was a compilation of correspondences over the years between the late British historian Arnold J. Toynbee and the Japanese philosophy/educator Isadeu Ikeda.

Hank knew that I was a history buff and well versed in the writings of Toynbee. He said to me: "How would you like to have this book for free?" I said to him: "Whose kneecaps do you want me to break?"

It turned out that all I had to do was read the book and then on Saturday go down to a new radio station that had just opened up in Madison a few weeks earlier. It was WORT-FM,  a non-commercial, counter-culture, community supported radio station of the leftish persuasion.

I was to go on a talk show with a fellow named John Ohliger and take three minutes to tell him (and his audience) what I thought of the book - and then I could keep it for myself!

I said to Hank: "Hand me the book and tell me where this radio thing is located."

The following Saturday morning I went down to the ugliest one-story cinder block building I had ever seen. I was introduced to this older gent who was some kind of liberal University of Wisconsin college professor. After John Ohliger made his introductory remarks I commenced to tell him (and his audience) about Toynbee, Ikeda, and this book of theirs.

I was still going strong when John reached over and gently tapped me on the arm and said he had to wrap things up; his thirty minute program was over. While John was signing off I sat there mentally upbraiding myself for the motor-mouth I had been and prepared to apologize profusely for hogging his whole show.

John had a stack of books by his elbow. After we were off the air and before I could launch into my abject grovel, he pushed that stack of books across the table to me and asked if I could look through these books and come back next week.

Thus my career as a book reviewer was born!

Three months later I was hosting that show ("The Madison Review of Books") myself. A couple of months later I had expanded it to one hour (thirty minutes was just way to short!); and a few months after that I had added a second one-hour book show that specialized on science fiction ("The Sci-Fi and Fantasy Hour with James Andrew Cox" - I think I was born with an ego as big as that program title!).

John Ohliger was a professor in the field of Adult Education and Life Long Learning. He was also an ardent social activist. He had been one of the key people to establish WORT-FM as a commercial free "talk show" radio forum for public issues. He started up "The Madison Review Of Books" as one of his experiments in adult education. He wanted to see what would happen if you put brand new books in the hands of ordinary folk - cab drivers, housewives, students, social workers, janitors, etc. - and then gave them a forum from which they could express their opinions and critiques to the community at large.

Back in the 70s, book reviewing (as it had been for pretty much the previous century) was largely an elitist operation of the New York/East Coast literati. John Ohliger (populist and leftist agitator that he was) wanted to break that stranglehold and see what would happen.

So John Ohliger started up his little radio show, got 15 of the major publishers to send him some books, and sent folks like Hank Luttrell out into the Madison community to recruit folks like me into sharing our views of what we were reading and what was being published.

I, along with a half-dozen others, banded together with John Ohliger and operated that little book review. I hosted the radio show and did most of the grunt work of publisher notification, book solicitation, and assigned reviewer follow-ups.

Then two years later, John Ohliger was working with still another group of citizens who wanted to insure a public access channel in the newly arriving television cable company (if I remember rightly it was Viking Media) that was then wiring up Madison. John talked me into going with him to endless meetings in small non-air-conditioned rooms over that sidewalk egg-frying Wisconsin summer. In the end, we were charted by the City of Madison and contracted with the cable company as the Madison Community Access Center - Cable Channel 4. The first show we taped was with a heart specialist doctor. The second show we taped was the television version of our little radio book review show.

I still remember that first television production. I hosted. We had one black/white television camera. We had one chair. We also had one guest. I introduced the book review program. Then a huge poster board sign was held by hand directly in front of the camera lens. I jumped up out of the one chair we had. Our guest sat down in it. Then I proceeded to interview him while standing next to the camera. When we were ready to wrap, the poster board sign went back up in front of the camera lens. The guest got up. I sat down. The poster board sign was whipped away. And I said farewell to the viewing audience.

The whole affair was the very definition of amateur - but we were all thrilled to enter this new medium of public access television and spread the word about books.

That show became "Bookwatch" and ran from 1978 to 2003 with me as its host. Our crew were always volunteers who donated their time for a sheer love of the cause. And the studio quality of our productions would match and occasionally surpass what PBS was doing.

Because of health problems slowing me down I finally had to retire after almost three decades from the television part of our Midwest Book Review operation in January 2003. But the show didn't disappear from the air for another 8 months or so. My producer/director had such a large backlog of old shows that he ran them in our regular Wednesday night time slot on WYOU-TV (which emerged in the early 1980s out of that original MCAC group) until finally the archives were exhausted.

In 1980 my job as a Developmental Disabilities Coordinator (a glorified kind of school social worker) for the Broadhead School District was terminated through lack of funding. Ronald Reagan had been elected president and one of the things he did in collusion with a conservative congress was to gut the money devoted to special education. Another program funding that was gutted had to do with Federal money for public library systems.

As a social worker I saw the writing on the wall for social services spending for the next few years. So I took my 30 hour a week "hobby" as a book reviewer and turned it into a full time profession. John Ohliger and I parted company over that. He was an altruist and a social reformer who felt that his little experiment should remain as band of local Madison community part-timers who were in it for the honor of it all. I wanted to go national, launch a library newsletter, expand out onto the internet, and be able to support myself.

I was primarily responsible for the necessary grunt work (read office work) that kept the wheels turning and the pump priming. Three weeks after I left his little book review operation it collapsed because no one wanted to take over the hard work of writing letters, sending out tear sheets, following-up review assignments, emptying the trash, manning the phone, etc.

It was sort of like the story of Henny Penny who easily found all manner of animal friends to eat her bread - but none to help her plant it, weed it, harvest the grain, prepare the dough, or even bake the loaf.

Everyone like the idea of free books (you got to keep the book you reviewed) but nobody wanted to do the day-to-day grind that insured there would be free books to hand out for review.

I borrowed $1000 from my father-in-law to buy letterhead stationary, a computer, and some postage - and never looked back.

Over the years John and I would come across one another. Madison is that kind of community. He was constantly involved in one or another group, issue, cause, or experiment. He hung out with the likes of Noam Chomsky and was always up for this or that demonstration or movement for social justice.

I always acknowledged my debt to John as my mentor and the man who made my subsequent career as a book reviewer and as the editor-in-chief of a multi-media book review operation possible.

The late John Ohliger (he died some years ago at the age of 77) was a dramatic and lasting influence on my life and career as a book reviewer and on the Midwest Book Review.

Smallwood: It was good to see that self-published authors are not turned away and you give priority consideration to small presses as well as the academic and that it is possible to have a book reviewed. There are so many resources on your web under Writing and Publishing. Also Reader Resources! Also a search option and site map for The Midwest Book Review. How do you keep up with all of these?

Jim Cox: What you see now on the Midwest Book Review is the cumulative work of more than 40 years. At the current age of 76 I work in my little office 3 to 4 hours a day, seven days a week. When I get an idea or write something that I think would be of value to authors, publishers, librarians, book publicists, and/or the general reading public I pass it along to my daughter (who is the web master and Managing Editor of our book review operation) to get it up on our web site. The same applies to discoveries I make out on the web, as well as items of interest and relevance that other people bring to my attention. So our web site is a constantly expanding repository of useful information and resources specific to the writing, publishing, and marketing of books.

Smallwood: Besides helping publishers and writers, please tell readers about how you make your reviews available to U.S. and Canadian libraries?

Jim Cox: We have two monthly contracts with companies that maintain book review databases for libraries and library systems.

One of them is the Gale Cengage Learning's 'Book Review Index'. Here are some links that describe and explain what that is:

The other one is CLCD Enterprise and has a book review database exclusive to children's books preschool through young adult, fiction and non-fiction. Here is a link to them:

In addition, we have library mailing lists for hundreds of community, academic, government, and corporate libraries for our monthly book review publications including the one specifically called "Library Bookwatch".

Smallwood: What seems the most heavily used links of all your resources offered on your web or the topics you get the most questions?

Jim Cox: The three most clicked on sections of our rather massive web site are:

Advice for Writers and Publishers (an archive of my 'how to' articles) found at:

Other Reviewers (a database I created of freelance book reviewers, book review publications, book review web sites and blogs) is at:

Jim Cox Report (my monthly column of advice, commentary, tips, tricks and techniques for marketing books) is at:

As for topics, I get asked about pretty much everything and anything that has to the publishing and marketing of books.

For example, just yesterday I got a phone call (asking me what she could do) from an author who used a POD (publish on demand) company who was apparently in continuous violation with respect to their contract.

The day before that I got a phone call asking about copyright law.

It's a rare week that goes by when someone doesn't email me or phone me with a question about some aspect of getting published or getting their books noticed in the highly competitive book business.

Smallwood: What resources do you have for the General Reading Public? Those interested in Children’s Books?

For the general reading public we archive all nine of our monthly book review publications on our website. Additionally, each of them can be directly subscribed to for free just by sending me an email asking to be signed up for one or more of them.

With specific reference to children's books, one of our nine monthly book review publications is the "Children's Bookwatch" for kids books, preschool through young adult, fiction and non-fiction. Here's a direct link to where they are archived on our web site:

Smallwood: Midwest Book Review has no advertising, banners. How does it manage? When I have submitted reviews, I’m informed when they are posted which is a great courtesy. Thank you for all you have done for writers! Do you have something new in the works for your amazing website?

Jim Cox: We are primarily funded by two annual foundation grants for the purpose of promoting literacy, library usage, and small press publishing. That's why we accept no advertising or charge for the reviews of published (hardcover or paperback) books.

It's common place for us to receive more good books than we have the reviewer resources to handle them all. So for any book that passes our initial screening but ultimately fails to achieve a review assignment simply because of 'too many books, not enough reviewers' we have a kind of safety net option so that the book can at least be drawn to the attention of librarians, booksellers, and the general reading public subscribers. If that author or publisher has a review from anyone else, and if they obtain that reviewer's permission for us to do, so we will run that review in their behalf and under the reviewer's byline in our monthly book review publication "Reviewer's Bookwatch". There is no charge for this service.

We do have a $50 Reader Fee option for authors or publishers who want a review of a digital (Kindle) book, or a not yet published manuscript, galley, uncorrected proof, pdf file, or ARC (advanced reading copy). But under this option it should be noted that the reader fee goes directly to the authorized and assigned reviewer - not to the Midwest Book Review. What I get out of it for being the 'middle man' in getting the author and reviewer together is that if the author approves of the review then I get to run it in our own monthly book review publications.

As the editor-in-chief of a book review operation the very beginning of this little enterprise, I hit upon two strategies that have proven immensely successful over the decades.

The first was to give priority consideration to self-published and small press published authors because they were a part of the publishing industry that was deliberately neglected by the major book review publications back then – and to a large extent, even now.

The second was to always provide that author or publisher with a copy of the review and a cover letter informing them of all the places we had published or posted our review of their book - back then (and often still now) a practice not routinely done by the Publishers Weekly, library journals, or New York Times Review of Books of today.

So to leave your readers one last thought about the role and mission of the "Midwest Book Review" and its editor-in-chief: Our purpose and goal is to help writers to write better, publishers to publish more profitably, librarians to make more informed considerations for what they should add to their collections, and to bring to the attention of the general reading public worthwhile books that they might otherwise never know about.
Poet Carol Smallwood Interviews Indie Friendly Review Pioneer

 MORE ABOUT THE INTERVIEWER

Carol Smallwood, based in Michigan, is a prolific poet who also does freelance interviews . This one was originally published by The Bookends Review, an independent arts journal,  in November, 2019. Smallwood's recent book is Patterns: Moments in Time (WordTech Communications, 2019).

MORE ABOUT THE MIDWEST BOOK REVIEW

In addition to running a juggernaut online book review site with resource pages galore, Jim cox also puts out a newsletter that primarily features his own reviews of books related to writing careers, everything from editing to publishing to marketing. He says, "All of the previous issues of the "Jim Cox Report" are archived on the Midwest Book Review website at www.midwestbookreview.com/bookbiz/jimcox.htm. If you'd like to receive the "Jim Cox Report" directly (and for free), just send me an email asking to be signed up for it." You can reach him with your review queries (or requests for his newsletter) at mwbookrevw@aol.com. Other contact information is Jim Cox, Midwest Book Review, 278 Orchard Dr., Oregon, WI, 53575.  Several of his reviews have been featured on this blog, usually submitted by grateful independent authors (see the badge at the left or use the search function on the home page of this blog). 

MORE ABOUT THIS BLOG 

 The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-
winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. Authors, readers, publishers, and reviewers may republish their favorite reviews of books they want to share with others. 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 and love. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page and in a tab at the top of this blog's home page. Reviews and essays are indexed by genre, reviewer names, and review sites so it may be used a resource for most anyone in the publishing industry. 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. #TheFrugalbookPromoter, #CarolynHowardJohnson, #TheNewBookReview, #TheFrugalEditor, #SharingwithWriters, #reading #BookReviews #GreatBkReviews #BookMarketing

Special thank yous to Carolyn Wilhelm for the badges she makes for participants in this review blog. Tweet with her @wiseowlfactory and find many of her free teacher's aids to promote literacy at Pinterest.