Dr. Wesley Britton Learns Some New Things About John Lennon

 

Title: John Lennon 1980 Playlist 

Author: Tim English 

Genre: Nonfiction/Biography

Publication Date : September 23, 2020

Kindle Unlimited

ASIN : B08JYHM2V1

Buy on Amazon

 

 

Reviewed by: Dr. Wesley Britton originally for BookPleasures.com

 

Forty years after his murder, I thought there wouldn't be much new ground to unearth regarding the last days of John Lennon. On that point, I've been proved wrong twice this week. On Friday, Oct. 16, ABC's 2020 aired "John Lennon: His Life, Legacy, and Last Days" featuring new interviews with friends and associates of the influential musician.

 

At the same time, this week I read Tim English's new John Lennon 1980 Playlist, an analytical history lesson with many surprises for me, a lifetime Lennon aficionado. The book made me remember what I was doing and how I felt on December 8, 1980 and the days and nights that followed. Forty years later, I'm surprised at the emotional impact of revisiting those times.

 

Part of that emotional resonance I felt while reading Playlist is due to how English captures the musical and cultural times of 1979 and 1980, focusing, of course, on what impacted and influenced John Lennon to come out of retirement and work on Double Fantasy. I wasn't surprised to hear of his interest in New Wave music by The Clash, Blondie, Dave Edmunds, Nick Lowe, and Elvis Costello. I was interested to learn how Lennon responded to "Rock Lobster" by the B52s. He was delighted to hear singer Kate Pierson's stylings clearly based on the warbling vocals of Yoko Ono.  This sort of appreciation for his wife was a major kick-starter for his own musical revival.

 

I admit discovering there was music I missed back in the day--I never heard of The Vapors "Turning Japanese." The title alone tells me why Lennon would have responded favorably to that hit. I hadn't known that "Coming Up" from his ex-partner Paul McCartney ignited Lennon's competitive juices.  

 

I already knew of Lennon's interest in the growing importance of Bob Marley and reggae,   but I would never have guessed that he liked disco in general, and Donna Summer in particular.  Wanting to get Yoko Ono's music on the disco floor had much to do with his work on her "Walking on Thin Ice" dance number. Christopher Cross and the soft pop of the era was never my cup of tea, but I could understand Lennon's love of "Sailing" as that song had special meaning for a man who had just been sailing to Bermuda where his musical torch was relit.

 

 

To be fair, Playlist is more than a recital of popular tunes and which songs were on Lennon's personal jukebox.  English offers many anecdotes about the origins of many tunes Lennon had liked back in his formative years like Sanford Clark's 1956 rockabilly hit, "The Fool." Lennon had a well-known fondness for straightforward, old style rock 'n roll and the styles being revitalized as in Queen's 1979 "Crazy Little Thing Called Love." No surprise that "(Just Like) Starting Over"  had obvious nods to Elvis Presley and the rockabilly era.

  

So, even if you think you know it all, odds are 1980 Playlist should provide knowledgeable readers with fresh revelations into the process of how Double Fantasy and it's follow-up, Milk and Honey, came to be.   I love this sort of stuff and found Playlist to be a fast and engaging read.  It took me back to a place of wonderful memories before the December 8 crash in so many lives. It's no spoiler to reveal the abrupt last two sentences of the book:

 

"Perhaps John would have sung "Liverpool Lou” to Sean that Monday night. If only he’d made it home."

 

This review first appeared at BookPleasures.com on Oct. 19, 2020:

 

https://waa.ai/uPke

 

 More About the Reviewer

 

 Dr. Wesley Britton is the author of The Beta Earth Chronicles and a regular reviewer for BookPleasures.com and #TheNewBookReview. Learn more about Britton and his work here: 

Explore the Beta Earth Chronicles website, Follow Wes Britton’s Goodreads blog, Check out Wes Britton’s Beta Earth Chronicles Facebook page, Enjoy the videos at Wes Britton’s YouTube Channel. 

More About the Blogger and What This Blog Offers

  

 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 about other #TheNewBookReview free services: 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!

Lois W. Stern, educator, anthology editor, and authors' advocate, offers a way for authors, readers, and publishers to find new reviewers for their books. It's also a way for reviewers to find new books at no charge. Find her submission guidelines in the tabs at the top of The New Book Review home page.  

 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

You Are Your Child's First Teacher by Rahima Baldwin Dancy Book Review

Title: You Are Your Child's First Teacher: Encouraging Your Child's Natural Development from Birth to Age Six

Author: Rahima Baldwin Dancy

Formats: Kindle, Paperback, and Audio Book

Pages: 336 Pages

• ISBN-10 : 1607743027
• ISBN-13 : 978-1607743026
• ASIN : B008WOUEMK

Publisher : Ten Speed Press; 3rd Edition

The first book in America to popularize the insights of Rudolf Steiner, founder of the Waldorf schools, regarding the developmental needs of young children.

You Are Your Child's First Teacher: Encouraging Your Child's Natural Development from Birth to Age Six was written by Rahima Baldwin Dancy. The book essentially presents the Waldorf philosophy of education and includes quotes from famous people in the Waldorf movement. However, much of the information is quite practical and helpful and can be applied in general to early childhood education.

"We have lost touch with natural processes in child development, convinced that we have to 'do something' rather than allowing the child’s own inner processes to unfold." 

She does not advocate for pacifiers, walkers, jumping toys, and other aids that supposedly help children achieve milestones before they are actually ready. She does advocate for an unrestrained, baby-proofed environment that the child can freely access and roam without problems. She feels the children will develop best this way. She also does not advocate for the early swim or gymnastics lessons as the learning cannot be sustained. She says toddlers do their own very appropriate gymnastics.

I spent much time reading the parts about babies and thinking about the book. As a grandmother, I got stuck on her ideas about the child becoming incarnate in the first year. She says the spirit at birth is larger than the body. Ponder that a minute and remember when this seemed true about newborns you have known. 

"Perhaps you have had the experience of walking into a room where a newborn is sleeping and wondering how the room can feel so filled by such a tiny creature sleeping over in the corner."

Growing Down

Dancy's description of how children "grow down" is so true. She described this as first the baby becomes able to move his or her eyes and head, then gain control of the torso to roll, later the hands begin to work, and finally the legs when the child can walk at about one year of age. Children grow up as they grow down. So interesting!

The author (and Waldorf education) is not for having children younger than age 7 sit still for long. "The tremendous growth of the first seven years is accompanied by the nearly constant movement as muscles and bones grow and coordination is gradually achieved." We know if we ask a child to sit for long, how they wiggle and fidget! Although children can learn certain things at young ages, she says if that is done it takes from the energy that is otherwise needed for growth and development.  Emphasis on intellectual growth too soon can have negative effects later, according to the book.

The book has a chapter on how to choose a preschool. Criteria are listed and can be consulted for parents who are trying to make such a decision. I notice that often in the Montessori on a Budget Facebook group these kinds of decisions are discussed. Parents want to know what to consider and this book can help with whatever type of preschool is being considered.

What about children watching television? What about video games? What does she think about immunizations? How should you care for a sick child? What about emphasizing religion in daily life? The author emphasizes that gratitude and reverence for life are essential to the whole development of the child. If you have questions in this area, the book offers pros and cons to consider, that I'm sure parents will find very helpful.

Conscious Parenting

"Conscious parenting requires keeping perspective and not letting ourselves become so bogged down in the day-to-day task of raising our children that we neglect to focus on the larger picture." 

Conscious parenting is: being present in the moment and attending to the present needs of the child. She says we should see the light in the child, as we parent.

The appendix has a discussion about Rudolf Steiner and Waldorf education. I did not realize that Waldorf has become the largest private school movement in the world. I didn't know that such schools were closed in World War II. Steiner is the founder of Waldorf Schools and is a pioneer in the area of developmentally based, age-appropriate learning. Early childhood educators are all in favor of such learning, and this book offers an understanding of such practice.

Thank you for reading! Carolyn

More About #TheNewBookReview 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 in a tab at the top of this blog's home page or go directly to the form at https://www.bit.ly/FinishedReviewSubmissions. Authors and publishers who do not yet have reviews or want more may use Lois W. Stern's "Authors Helping Authors" service for requesting reviews. Find her guidelines in a tab at the top of the home page, too. And know that Carolyn Wilhelm, our IT expert, award-winning author, and veteran educator, makes an award image especially for those who volunteer to write reviews from Lois's review-request list and post them in the spirit of her "Authors Helping Authors" project. Reviews, interviews, and articles on this blog are indexed by genre, reviewers' names, and review sites so #TheNewBookReview may be used as a resource for most anyone in the publishing industry. As an example, writers will find this blog's 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

Carol Smallwood's "Thread, Form, and Other Enclosures" Reviewed by Cristina Deptula

Title: Thread, Form, and Other Enclosures

Author: Carol Smallwood

Publisher: Main Street Rag Press (October, 2020)

ISBN: 978-1-59948-812-7

96 pages

$15 (+ shipping)

Purchase at http://mainstreetragbookstore.com/?s=smallwood

Reviewed by Cristina Deptula

On Christmas Day my mother and I enjoyed the most recent version of Little Women in the theater. I nodded with respect when Meg, the most domestic of the sisters, admonished the less traditional Jo, ‘Just because my dreams are different from yours doesn’t mean that they are less important.’

In her most recent poetry collection Thread, Form and Other Enclosures, Carol Smallwood illustrates Meg’s point through a thoughtful arrangement of pieces.

Formal structures—pantoum, triolet, and villanelle—begin the collection, immediately demonstrating the author’s technical prowess. Several of these pieces, and many works throughout Enclosures, deal with domestic objects and activities—quilts, blue jeans, sewing thread, Clabber Girl baking powder. There are even some gently humorous poems, such as a piece on how to discreetly hide one’s undergarments from neighbors who might see your clothesline and a highly structured piece written in upbeat advertising copy language about spandex yoga pants.

While Smallwood writes just as adeptly in free verse and shorter bursts of language later in the book, those formal pieces assert that homemaking, building an everyday life with skill and dignity, is a craft to be mastered, just as much as literature. My mother shared with me not long ago that when she and my father were newlyweds, he asked her why she found Woman’s Day and Good Housekeeping interesting. She told him that he read technology magazines to develop his career, and since at that point homemaking was her career, she was doing the same.  

All of this affirms that traditional women’s concerns of cooking, sewing, and mending, and women themselves, are worthy of thought and consideration.

Smallwood’s collection is arranged so as to connect seemingly mundane activities to deeper meaning. Thread holds mended clothing and the squares of a quilt together, and a spool of thread from a woman, Ariadne, allowed Theseus to navigate his way out of the labyrinth after battling the Minotaur. On an even grander level, the ancient Greeks believed three goddesses, Fates, determined our lifespans by measuring and cutting thread. Strings, which can be seen as larger threads, are, in a leading cosmological theory, the building blocks of the universe.

Throughout human history women have invested labor and thought into nourishing people in the kitchen, taking pride in our appearance and that of our homes, creating beauty and order within our surroundings. To Smallwood, these endeavors are a real way of holding society together and laying down the building blocks of our world.

The domesticity Smallwood portrays can also represent enclosure, where women’s lives and contributions take place mostly within the home, the private rather than the public sphere. While women can certainly find meaning and beauty in homemaking, we can also find ourselves restricted by the metaphorical rooms, drawers and cabinets of our lives. Houses with heavy doors, and a husband who demeans and infantilizes, can wrap around and trap us, as Smallwood poignantly illustrates in the piece that references Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s short story The Yellow Wallpaper, where isolation and loss of control over her life drives a female narrator to madness.

Women’s lives have often been marked by enclosure, whether by tradition, societal roles, or our understandable fears of assault and violence. Smallwood’s collection reflects some of this danger, through the aforementioned piece about the abusive husband and another about a male professor who makes crude comments in class.

Another kind of assault present in Smallwood’s collection is cancer, still treated by invasive chemotherapy that causes debilitating side effects. The speakers navigate and survive through a determined embrace, however possible, of freedom and choice. The cup that holds medication becomes a tool saved to capture and release insects trapped in the home, and one can consider the landscape of the Moon while receiving an ultrasound. 

Smallwood's formal poetic structures, like the interiors of homes and the rooms, cabinets and boxes within them, represent both sites of beauty, mastery and empowerment and sites of restriction and confinement in women's lives. To reflect this contradiction, she employs a repetitive formal structure for a piece urging writers to throw off their inner censors and speak their minds. 

We celebrate along with Smallwood when hair regrows and health returns after successful cancer treatment, as we do when the narrator gets away from the man who boasted she would never leave. Even when life leaves scars, we can sometimes survive, outlast our suffering and retain our beauty, become like the ‘three dolls in pink dresses, showing cracked faces with grace.’

Smallwood’s last two poems in the collection concern greeting card envelopes and McDonald’s, and she returns to formal structures to render these subjects. Her afterword reminds us that ‘beauty comes at us in ordinary moments/full-grown, unexpected.’ Everyday life can be inspiring and lovely, and we can understand the joy that Little Women’s Meg, and many women throughout history, have taken in the ‘threads and enclosures’ of our lives.

More About the Poet 

Carol Smallwood edited several books for the American Library Asociation and is a National Federation of State Poetry Societies and Franklin-Christoph Poetry Contest Winner. Among her over five dozen books, Women and Poetry: Tips on Writing, Teaching and Publishing by Successful Women Poets appears on the list of "Best Books for Writers" by Poets & Writers Magazine. Recent poetry collections are from WordTech Editions, Lamar University Press, Shanti Arts. Writing After Retirement: Tips by Successful Retired Writers; The Library's Role in Supporting Financial Literacy for Patrons; Library Partnerships With Writers and Poets. Compartments: Poems on Nature, Femininity, and Other Realms was nominated for the Pushcart Prize; others followed. Carol's first chapter of her novel, Lily's Odyssey, is in Best New Writing 2010; In the Measuring. Some of the Marquis publications she appears: Who's Who in the World, Who's Who of American Women, Who's Who in the World; Albert Nelson Marquis Lifetime Achievement Award. She appears in Contemporary Authors New Revision 282; Wikipedia. Carol has founded humane societies.

More About the Reviewer 

As a former science and technology reporter, Cristina Deptula brings curiosity and empathy to her book reviews. She has always loved to read and is the founder and editor of Synchronized Chaos International Magazine and also founder and general manager of Authors, Large and Small literary publicity firm. 

More About the Blogger and What This Blog Offers

  

 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 about other #TheNewBookReview free services: 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!

Lois W. Stern, educator, anthology editor, and authors' advocate, offers a way for authors, readers, and publishers to find new reviewers for their books. It's also a way for reviewers to find new books at no charge. Find her submission guidelines in the tabs at the top of The New Book Review home page.  

 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

Review of Kingsolver's "Prodigal Summer" in Poetry Form

Note from Blogger Carolyn Howard-Johnson: 

Recently, this #TheNewBookReview blog has attracted more interest from poets and readers of poetry and the idea of accepting reviews of books, especially classics and poetry books written in poetry rather than prose came up. My answer? Of course! This from Leslie Klein who was recently interviewed by another #poet, Carol Smallwood! Enjoy! 

Title: Prodigal Summer

Author: Barbara Kingsolver

Leslie Klein (reviewer)

Fiction

ISBN-13 : 978-0060959036 

ISBN-10 : 0060959037

Reviewed in poetry by Leslie Klein

Wild Pages

Another book
has come my way
after abandoning
the read of two others
unable to attach
my interest
for more than mere pages.

This one that
ensnares
is riveting
with passion, flora
and carnivore scat.

Enchanting is my
imagined sketch
of backwood events.
All is pulsing—
moths, bats
and milk-gorged teats
consume
as do the kisses
and long stares
of the lovers
entwined in their
discovery.

                       ~ Copyright by Leslie Klein 

                         

More About the Author of The Prodigal Summer

Barbara Kingsolver is the author of nine bestselling works of fiction, including the novels, Flight Behavior, The Lacuna, The Poisonwood Bible, Animal Dreams, and The Bean Trees, as well as books of poetry, essays, and creative nonfiction. Her work of narrative nonfiction is the enormously influential bestseller Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life. Kingsolver’s work has been translated into more than twenty languages and has earned literary awards and a devoted readership at home and abroad. She was awarded the National Humanities Medal, our country’s highest honor for service through the arts, as well as the prestigious Dayton Literary Peace Prize for her body of work. She lives with her family on a farm in southern Appalachia.

More About the Poet-Reviewer Leslie Klein

Leslie Klein is an artist and writer, living in the Berkshires of Massachusetts. Her op-eds, feature stories, and poetry have been published in various newspapers and magazines. Klein has had a long career teaching and showing her work in galleries and juried exhibitions. She was commissioned to create the sculpture for The Boston Freedom Award.  Reach her at clayforms@aol.com. This poem was originally published by Shanti Arts LLC in Leslie's book, Driving Through Paintings.  

More About the Blogger and Ways to Get the Most from #TheNewBookReview

 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!

 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

Author Dr. Bob Rich Offers His Book-Review Secrets

My way of getting (fair) reviews

 

Guest post by Dr. Bob Rich

 

 That wonderful lady, Carolyn Howard-Johnson, has set me a task: to tell the world about my method for getting [quite a lot of]  reviews for my books. And who am I to disobey her? So, here are a few thoughts on the subject.

 

Review what?

The first requirement is excellence. No one but no one sees my work until I consider it perfect. Then I send it to beta readers who prove that it isn’t. I am a professional editor, so there are few typos to pick up in my writing, but my raptor-eyed friends do notice even the extra blank space, the missing [quotation marks] and the over-repetition of some word (we all have those).

 

If you don’t yet have the skills to edit your writing to near-perfection, having it edited by someone knowledgeable is not a luxury but a requirement. As a beginning writer, I hired three different editors for three different books, and each time my writing skills advanced enormously.

 

Writing is both an art and a craft. When my words make you laugh, cry, seethe or ponder, it is because I designed them so, not in some heavy-handed way, but intuitively, the way a master chef produces a great meal. And all prose is poetry: if you read one of my stories aloud, there will be no awkward sentences to leave you breathless, no “Huh, what was that again?”

 

Finally, content also needs to be the best it can, though I could write a book about what that means. No, go away, not now!

 

OK, how?

Being a great magician, I wave a wand, and hex people to read my books and then post 5-star reviews.

 

When that doesn’t work (it hasn’t yet, but I keep trying), I rely on several approaches. All are applications of my philosophy. This is, the more you give, the more you grow, and also, the more you give, the more you get. When I answer the phone, I say, “Bob Rich here. How can I be of service to you?” Send out good, you get back good. Send out crap, and it hits you in the face.

 

So, I don’t chase people to buy my book. Certainly, where appropriate, like on my book pages, I do ask people to post reviews, and provide them with very convenient links to the exact pages where they can do so.

 

Rather, my motivation is to be of service to my friends, followers, fans, and soon-to-be fans. My task is not to get money out of them, or reviews, or referrals, but, depending on the book, to entertain, amuse, challenge, instruct or inspire them.

 

I also have a policy of many years’ standing. Anyone who emails me proof of purchase of one of my books has the right to a second title free, in electronic format. A review of the book is proof of purchase (unless of course the book was free from me. I may be old, but not that senile yet).

 

To get reviews, offer reviews

 

Occasionally, I edit or beta read a book that gets me enthusiastic, and I want to do everything possible to tell the world about it. So, I return it with an advance review. Also, fellow writers have occasionally asked me for an advance review or endorsement, and if I approve of the book, I provide one.

 

Because I’ve been posting reviews since 1999, a steady sprinkling of writers approach me out of the ether, and ask me to review their book. If the opening looks good, I agree. In addition, if I see what promises to be a good book, I track down the author and request a review copy to be emailed to me (No! Not a paper one! Paper is trees.) I may occasionally buy a book, believe it or not, but since I deliberately live below the official poverty level of my country as a form of environmental action, it is not often I can spare the money. If I have a few extra dollars, I donate it to some charity or movement I passionately believe in, like Medicins sans Frontieres, Greenpeace, Amnesty International, or the Climate Council of Australia. That’s more important than buying even the best book.

 

I am a reviewer for a few web services like Book Sirens and when I have the time, I grab a book from there.

 

My very strict rules for reviewing a book are:

 

If I consider a book to be worth 4 or 5 stars, I will provide a public review. I’ll publish it in my newsletter Bobbing Around http://wp.me/P3Xihq-1and happily post it on any website the author specifies.

 

However, I don’t trample on another writer’s baby. If I don’t consider the book to be excellent, I will privately let the author know why, pointing out what in my opinion are its good points, and where it needs improvement.

 

The return

 

Hey, but the topic is how to GET reviews, not how to give them, right?

 

Yes, but every time I read a book for review, I request a review of one of my books in return.

 

Since my books are good, almost always I get an enthusiastic acceptance. Now, a second aspect of my philosophy kicks in: “I can ask anyone anything, as long as I can accept a no, and vice versa.” I don’t know the other author’s circumstances. There could be all sorts of reasons that prevent this person from doing anything too much more than breathing, so a no-response or a refusal doesn’t make me react in kind.

 

Amazon considers review exchanges to be dishonest. Well, they can be, if you deliberately lie about the value of the other book, inflate your rating, in the hope of getting the same back. In my case, I am confident my work doesn’t need such sleazy treatment, because it is good stuff, and as I said, I prefer to be of service to the other person with suggestions for improvement instead of a review if I have concerns about quality.

 

In any case, I read much faster than most people. Typically, my review is posted and buried under many others before the return makes its appearance. I have never had my reviews refused for this reason.

 

It would be a poor thing if all reviews came from people I have had prior contact with. Whenever I check, there are those from strangers. If I can track them down, I draw their attention to the free book earned, and hopefully expand the single review into a series, and more important, into a friendship.

 

There is one more source of reviews. Since 1999, I have established a list of subscribers to my monthly newsletter, many of whom are almost family by now. More recently, my blog has been attracting followers. Each time I post something, I get Likes and Follows from complete strangers. I do my best to contact them, which is not always possible, and send a standard message. It is the same each time, but from the heart: “Thank you for choosing to follow my blog, Bobbing Around. I hope my words will be of service to you for a long time.”

 

Many of my subscribers and followers go out of their way to recommend my books to their contacts, and I am immensely grateful for this. I am glad they benefit from the “More you give, more you grow” rule.

 

How to write a review?

 

Being a conservationist, I like to recycle. Rather than give review writing instruction here, I invite you to read a post on the subject: https://wp.me/p3Xihq-1NF

Summary

I make it as easy as possible by placing links to specific web pages where a review will be of help. These are the selling pages of the book, and its Goodreads page.

 

If someone emails me a review of one of my books, I offer a second book, free.

 

Rather than seeking reviews as such, I ensure my books are the best they can be, and that I am of service to people in every way possible.

 

I review many books, and request a return review.

PS: I’m keen to find out what you think of my ideas. I'd love to hear your ideas, too.  So, here is a prize: I’ll randomly select one commenter, who will receive a free edit of 3000 words of your work--or a free electronic copy of any of my books, which are listed at https://bobrich18.wordpress.com/bobs-booklist.  

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!

 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

Talented Authors Offer Free Books for Review--Paper or E-book - And Here's How YOU Can Do It Too

TO OUR VALUED REVIEWERS

From TheNewBookReview

We welcome you to our exciting new book review project. We invite you to peruse this ever growing list of books written by talented authors just like you who are offering free review copies of their books. We hope you will catch our  "Authors Helping Authors"  spirit to write a review for a fellow author. 

 

How Jack and the Beanstalk Can Help Us Authors - Plus Hint #22

What We Can Learn From Jack and the Beanstalk 

Plus Hint Number 22 for Getting Book Reviews

by Lois W. Stern, 

#TheNewBookReview Book Review Acquisition Coordinator

Hint #22 from Carolyn Howard-Johnson's How to Get Great Book Review Frugally and Ethically

"When your author name appears anywhere on Amazon, your name (also) appears on other authors' buy pages when you write reviews for their books. Your expertise and experience as an author shows when you (write reviews for other authors.) "  Pages 162-163 How to Get Great Book Reviews