Review 5 Star
Find It on Amazon Cinderella—A Love Story is a cute fairy tale retelling by Gina LoBiondo. Set in the kingdom of Orynx, the story starts with Ella’s parents—her mother Marie, who married very young, and her father Charles. After Marie dies and her father remarries, Ella’s life goes from paradise as a much-loved daughter with a huge doll collection to a slave in rags. Her stepmother, Vera, deeply resents how happy Ella used to be and deliberately sets out to be hard on her, using her two spoiled daughters as puppets. But will a king’s unwelcome edict, which forces his handsome young son to choose a bride, help turn things around for Ella? And she sorely misses her mother—is it possible her mother misses her too? This gently-paced, humorous little story has a narrative voice that is exactly reminiscent of the way old fairy tales were written, which lends it a great deal of authenticity. It makes a nice quick read for anyone who loves to collect and read fairy tales. Cinderella—A Love Story adds some intriguing touches to a familiar classic, including Cinderella’s father as more of a central character present throughout the story, which I really liked. Gina LoBiondo achieves great success in making this story about an oppressed heroine always feel lighthearted. Even as Ella goes through bad things, the witty conversations and interesting additions to the original tale such as a scheming valet, a ghost, and a genuine change of heart from the stepsisters, make it a worthwhile reading experience. It has just enough familiarity that it never disappoints and just enough originality that it pleasantly surprises at the right times. Review 5 star
Find It On Amazon The Next Bestseller: Book Marketing for Success is a hands-on book to help authors tackle marketing problems and needs. Tim Riordan, a pastor and an experienced author, uses his knowledge from publishing both bestselling fiction and religious non-fiction to offer a lot of advice primarily to newer authors and self-publishers. The book explores the often difficult and time-consuming marketing that most authors must do, no matter where they were published, and the first half introduces basics like finding your platform and using a website and social media. Later chapters move from intermediate to advanced author techniques such as video, conferences and public speaking, mastery of Amazon's features, and revitalization of older publications. For authors faced with a maze of book marketing options, The Next Bestseller: Book Marketing for Success is a great, comprehensive summary of the tricks of the trade. An impressive array of tips and strategies are explored here, and the book doesn’t underdeliver. There’s a lot of material packaged into The Next Bestseller that, if applied, can really take an author from beginner to polished, branded author over time. The thoroughness of the topics was impressive and I found that the lists of useful links, the pie chart of author platform components, and the sample job description to send to a launch team made this book a real find. Tim Riordan’s cheerful sincerity about how he incorporates God into his marketing plan and goals as a writer makes this a must-have for Christian authors who are researching a publishing journey, but this is a perfect overall study resource for anyone who wants to learn the secrets of how to improve their book sales. Review 5 star
Find It On Amazon Chronomancer and the Time God: Death of a Paradise is the first book in a fantasy trilogy by James Meadows. In the world of Zarathea, Aleister, a brilliant young battle mage whose talents are matched by his arrogance, is from the kingdom of Mystas, which despises religion. But there are many who do still worship the gods. Because of a disturbing letter sent by a mysterious figure known as the Chronomancer, King Aldon of Lamoria summons three priests from Zarathea’s major religions to go on a quest with Aleister as their leader. Since he hates religion, Aleister is resentful about the quest and the priests do nothing but squabble. But their gods aren’t the only ones who exist—or who once existed. The map leads to the four pieces that contain the power of the ancient god Rael, the god of Time. And its first stop is the seemingly idyllic, constantly floating paradise city of Cockagaine. Aleister is going to be tested to the limits to get his team out of Cockaigne alive. An unusually involving fantasy story, James Meadow's book takes many of the elements of a good epic adventure yarn and spins out a tale that’s intriguing, mystical, and notched with fun twists and turns. Aleister’s dislike of religion is matched by the philosophical complexity of the three faiths represented by his friends—freedom-loving (and thieving) Droma, idealistic Ardath, and stern but ultimately insecure Cameron. There’s nothing better than a book you want to read again and this world of warring kingdoms divided over profound philosophies since practically forever tells that kind of story. The heroes, pitted against immeasurably powerful gods and their crafty minions, argue deeply about things they care about, and beneath a quest and teamwork story stand the frail, adamant, divided, and lovable people who have taken sides in an epic struggle of ideas. I’ve read many fantasy books and I’d have to put Chronomancer and the Time God: Death of a Paradise near the top for its nuanced story and pertinent concepts. |
AuthorThis is the companion for Sarah Scheele's newsletter blog. In it I share reviews for books I'd recommend/are similar to my own. Archives
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