The previous reviews have been archived and cross-linked on the main site.
In other news, I'm experimenting with a new site editing program; my old one was out of date, and it recently developed a glitch I can't seem to fix. So I'm trying CoffeeCup's HTML editor. If I can get the hang of the new editor, I foresee a site overhaul in the future. (So far, aside from being somewhat peeved by misleading info regarding their "free" version, it seems to work.)
Enjoy!
Friday, July 31, 2015
Saturday, July 25, 2015
How to Survive a Sharknado and Other Unnatural Disasters (Andrew Shaffer)
How to Survive a Sharknado and Other Unnatural Disasters
Andrew Shaffer
Three Rivers Press
Fiction, Humor/Media Reference
***** (Great)
DESCRIPTION: Sharknadoes, arachnoquakes, piranhacondas, beeclipses... unnatural disasters are no longer the stuff of fiction or made-for-TV disaster movies. Whether they're caused by genetic tampering, climate change, environmental damage, or ancient curses hardly matters - surviving is all that counts when it's you staring down a boaricane or outrunning a Mongolian death worm. This book gathers advice from those hardy (or foolhardy) souls who have faced unnatural dangers and lived to tell the tale... or at least died in instructive manners. Shaffer includes advice from renowned sharknado survivors Fin Shephard and April Wexler.
REVIEW: This straight-faced companion to SyFy's slew of original monster movies (actually featured in a cameo during Sharknado 2) offers hilarious survival advice for those of us trapped in a world gone mad. Monsters and disasters are rated based on probability of occurrence, danger level, and a special Fin Shephard "WTF" scale of weirdness, not to mention a handy guide to those most at risk from any given incident. I haven't seen most of these wonders, but I've seen enough B-grade monster flicks to laugh right along. (I can't deny that a small part of me still weeps to see how the former SciFi Channel has fallen from a station dedicated to sense-of-wonder science fiction and fantasy to a schlock film factory and WWE outlet.) For being just what it claimed to be, and for inducing many laugh-out-loud moments, I'm giving this light, fast read a top rating. No, it's not deep, hard science, but it doesn't claim to be. (And, judging from sharktopuses, pteracudas, and robocrocs, all created by scientists meddling in things they couldn't ultimately control, maybe hard science is overrated, anyway...)
You Might Also Enjoy:
Field Guide to the Apocalypse (Meghann Marco) - My Review
Time Travel Dinosaur (Matt Youngmark) - My Review
Andrew Shaffer
Three Rivers Press
Fiction, Humor/Media Reference
***** (Great)
DESCRIPTION: Sharknadoes, arachnoquakes, piranhacondas, beeclipses... unnatural disasters are no longer the stuff of fiction or made-for-TV disaster movies. Whether they're caused by genetic tampering, climate change, environmental damage, or ancient curses hardly matters - surviving is all that counts when it's you staring down a boaricane or outrunning a Mongolian death worm. This book gathers advice from those hardy (or foolhardy) souls who have faced unnatural dangers and lived to tell the tale... or at least died in instructive manners. Shaffer includes advice from renowned sharknado survivors Fin Shephard and April Wexler.
REVIEW: This straight-faced companion to SyFy's slew of original monster movies (actually featured in a cameo during Sharknado 2) offers hilarious survival advice for those of us trapped in a world gone mad. Monsters and disasters are rated based on probability of occurrence, danger level, and a special Fin Shephard "WTF" scale of weirdness, not to mention a handy guide to those most at risk from any given incident. I haven't seen most of these wonders, but I've seen enough B-grade monster flicks to laugh right along. (I can't deny that a small part of me still weeps to see how the former SciFi Channel has fallen from a station dedicated to sense-of-wonder science fiction and fantasy to a schlock film factory and WWE outlet.) For being just what it claimed to be, and for inducing many laugh-out-loud moments, I'm giving this light, fast read a top rating. No, it's not deep, hard science, but it doesn't claim to be. (And, judging from sharktopuses, pteracudas, and robocrocs, all created by scientists meddling in things they couldn't ultimately control, maybe hard science is overrated, anyway...)
You Might Also Enjoy:
Field Guide to the Apocalypse (Meghann Marco) - My Review
Time Travel Dinosaur (Matt Youngmark) - My Review
Thursday, July 23, 2015
Just In Time Cowboy (Jillie Rivers)
Just In Time Cowboy
(The Lost Mine series, Book 1)
Jillie Rivers
Amazon Digital Services
Fiction, Romance/Sci-Fi
***+ (Okay/Good)
DESCRIPTION: In 2014, Kelsey Winter came to Mule Stop, Wyoming to help turn around an unproductive mine recently acquired by her employer, Great Northern Mining. Success here will mean her own plant to operate on her next assignment. Unfortunately, the former owner is doing his level best to sabotage her, which is why she found herself there on one fateful summer day trying once again to clean up his mistakes. Then the storm hit - and a bolt of lightning takes Kelsey straight in the heart.
In 1892, Peter Jackson is nearing the end of two years of freedom. All his life, he dreamed of living his own life on the range... but he has a duty to his father, to continue the family banking dynasty by marrying one of the frilly-dressed proper ladies of New York City. If his latest strike turns out to be a mother lode, maybe he can buy a few more months of liberty. He's on his way back to the town of Mule Stop when a rogue storm drops a dust devil straight in his path. When it clears, he finds a beautiful stranger sprawled in the blast zone.
Kelsey cannot believe she's fallen back in time. It must be a dream of some sort, a trauma-induced hallucination. But it all seem so real - especially the too-tempting stranger in the cowboy hat, Pete, who finds her on the open prairie where Great Northern's plant parking lot should be. She just got through a bad break-up with another man when her heart overrode her head, so the last thing she needs is to fall for a man from the wrong century, one who may just be a figment of her imagination anyway. She has to return home... but the only way may be to fulfill a Sioux prophecy about a "Wise One" from the future, a prophecy she just can't believe is about her.
A Kindle-exclusive title.
REVIEW: I was in the mood for something light, so a time-travel romance seemed to fit the bill. This one starts out a little clunky, forcing character descriptions and information down my throat as it presents the usual suspects of the genre: a gorgeous green-eyed lady with trust issues, an unreasonably handsome cowboy hiding family secrets, and a contrivance to throw them together with just enough questions to keep them from clawing each other's clothes off at first sight, not to mention a slew of supporting stock characters who help or hinder the would-be lovers. This includes such awkward phrases as "the travel and adventures in which Pete indulged his taste for adventure", which made my inner editor cringe. Slowly, despite a few stereotypes, the tale comes together and builds some momentum, though the lengths to which Rivers goes in order to incite and inflame Kelsey's distrust of Peter (not to mention relapses in her belief about time travel) had me grinding my teeth more than once. When a simple conversation - one Pete refuses to initiate and Kelsey refuses to listen to - would resolve a matter that stretches out for a good percentage of the story, I find it annoying, not to mention an overused tactic, particularly in romances, to delay the inevitable. A subplot with an outlaw gang whose leader has a bone to pick with Pete feels drawn out and occasionally forced, as does one involving a lovelorn town girl convinced that she, not Kelsey, is destined to be the future Mrs. Jackson. Despite that, it eventually builds to a reasonably tense climax and a nice resolution - though, in retrospect and without spoilers, some elements don't quite fit the "rules" established earlier. But for the issues I mentioned, it wound up fairly close to a Good rating, but those problems managed to hold it back.
You Might Also Enjoy:
The Inscription (Pam Binder) - My Review
Scoundrel for Hire (Adrienne deWolfe) - My Review
Time Treasure (Sheila Raye) - My Review
(The Lost Mine series, Book 1)
Jillie Rivers
Amazon Digital Services
Fiction, Romance/Sci-Fi
***+ (Okay/Good)
DESCRIPTION: In 2014, Kelsey Winter came to Mule Stop, Wyoming to help turn around an unproductive mine recently acquired by her employer, Great Northern Mining. Success here will mean her own plant to operate on her next assignment. Unfortunately, the former owner is doing his level best to sabotage her, which is why she found herself there on one fateful summer day trying once again to clean up his mistakes. Then the storm hit - and a bolt of lightning takes Kelsey straight in the heart.
In 1892, Peter Jackson is nearing the end of two years of freedom. All his life, he dreamed of living his own life on the range... but he has a duty to his father, to continue the family banking dynasty by marrying one of the frilly-dressed proper ladies of New York City. If his latest strike turns out to be a mother lode, maybe he can buy a few more months of liberty. He's on his way back to the town of Mule Stop when a rogue storm drops a dust devil straight in his path. When it clears, he finds a beautiful stranger sprawled in the blast zone.
Kelsey cannot believe she's fallen back in time. It must be a dream of some sort, a trauma-induced hallucination. But it all seem so real - especially the too-tempting stranger in the cowboy hat, Pete, who finds her on the open prairie where Great Northern's plant parking lot should be. She just got through a bad break-up with another man when her heart overrode her head, so the last thing she needs is to fall for a man from the wrong century, one who may just be a figment of her imagination anyway. She has to return home... but the only way may be to fulfill a Sioux prophecy about a "Wise One" from the future, a prophecy she just can't believe is about her.
A Kindle-exclusive title.
REVIEW: I was in the mood for something light, so a time-travel romance seemed to fit the bill. This one starts out a little clunky, forcing character descriptions and information down my throat as it presents the usual suspects of the genre: a gorgeous green-eyed lady with trust issues, an unreasonably handsome cowboy hiding family secrets, and a contrivance to throw them together with just enough questions to keep them from clawing each other's clothes off at first sight, not to mention a slew of supporting stock characters who help or hinder the would-be lovers. This includes such awkward phrases as "the travel and adventures in which Pete indulged his taste for adventure", which made my inner editor cringe. Slowly, despite a few stereotypes, the tale comes together and builds some momentum, though the lengths to which Rivers goes in order to incite and inflame Kelsey's distrust of Peter (not to mention relapses in her belief about time travel) had me grinding my teeth more than once. When a simple conversation - one Pete refuses to initiate and Kelsey refuses to listen to - would resolve a matter that stretches out for a good percentage of the story, I find it annoying, not to mention an overused tactic, particularly in romances, to delay the inevitable. A subplot with an outlaw gang whose leader has a bone to pick with Pete feels drawn out and occasionally forced, as does one involving a lovelorn town girl convinced that she, not Kelsey, is destined to be the future Mrs. Jackson. Despite that, it eventually builds to a reasonably tense climax and a nice resolution - though, in retrospect and without spoilers, some elements don't quite fit the "rules" established earlier. But for the issues I mentioned, it wound up fairly close to a Good rating, but those problems managed to hold it back.
You Might Also Enjoy:
The Inscription (Pam Binder) - My Review
Scoundrel for Hire (Adrienne deWolfe) - My Review
Time Treasure (Sheila Raye) - My Review
Friday, July 17, 2015
Winged Fantasy (Brenda Lyons)
Winged Fantasy
Brenda Lyons
Impact
Nonfiction, Art
*** (Okay)
DESCRIPTION: Dragons, gryphons, phoenixes, pegasi... since antiquity, fabulous creatures have flown across the skies of our imagination. Here, artist Brenda Lyons offers tips on creating your own magical winged beasts and bringing them to life with watercolor paints.
REVIEW: I've seen Lyons's work online for some time, and have long been a fan of her gryphons, so I was thrilled to finally find her work in an art book. She excels at describing different wing structures, particularly the lay of feathers (always tricky), and her examples offer detailed painting instructions. It is, however, more of a painting book than a drawing book; her exercises start with detailed line drawings already on the paper, often with little hint as to how to replicate them for the artist trying to follow along. Lyons also skimps on anatomy, particularly bone structure (save the wings) and musculature (vaguely mentioned, but never discussed in detail or diagrammed.) These are pretty big gaps for a book trying to teach the art of constructing convincing fabulous beasts. Indeed, some of her critters looked a bit cartoonish, particularly around the faces, due to iffy underlying anatomy. What dropped this one to a flat Okay rating, though, was the "extras" - at several points, Lyons instructs me to go to a page on the Impact Books website for "additional information." This information, however, is only available if you enter your e-mail address. Do I really need more spam just for a little elaboration on her lessons? It's disappointing to see art books going the way of computer games and so much else in the world, where paying for content mostly only buys you the opportunity to pay for more content, even if the "payment" is just in more advertising being slung at you. Overall, this isn't a bad introduction to the subject, but I've seen more detailed books on fantasy creatures - including ones with more thorough instructions - on the shelves. (I still love her gryphons, though...)
You Might Also Enjoy:
The Explorer's Guide to Drawing Fantasy Creatures (Emily Fiegenschuh) - My Review
The Fantasy Illustrator's Technique Book (Gary A. Lippincott) - My Review
DragonArt (J. "NeonDragon" Peffer) - My Review
Brenda Lyons
Impact
Nonfiction, Art
*** (Okay)
DESCRIPTION: Dragons, gryphons, phoenixes, pegasi... since antiquity, fabulous creatures have flown across the skies of our imagination. Here, artist Brenda Lyons offers tips on creating your own magical winged beasts and bringing them to life with watercolor paints.
REVIEW: I've seen Lyons's work online for some time, and have long been a fan of her gryphons, so I was thrilled to finally find her work in an art book. She excels at describing different wing structures, particularly the lay of feathers (always tricky), and her examples offer detailed painting instructions. It is, however, more of a painting book than a drawing book; her exercises start with detailed line drawings already on the paper, often with little hint as to how to replicate them for the artist trying to follow along. Lyons also skimps on anatomy, particularly bone structure (save the wings) and musculature (vaguely mentioned, but never discussed in detail or diagrammed.) These are pretty big gaps for a book trying to teach the art of constructing convincing fabulous beasts. Indeed, some of her critters looked a bit cartoonish, particularly around the faces, due to iffy underlying anatomy. What dropped this one to a flat Okay rating, though, was the "extras" - at several points, Lyons instructs me to go to a page on the Impact Books website for "additional information." This information, however, is only available if you enter your e-mail address. Do I really need more spam just for a little elaboration on her lessons? It's disappointing to see art books going the way of computer games and so much else in the world, where paying for content mostly only buys you the opportunity to pay for more content, even if the "payment" is just in more advertising being slung at you. Overall, this isn't a bad introduction to the subject, but I've seen more detailed books on fantasy creatures - including ones with more thorough instructions - on the shelves. (I still love her gryphons, though...)
You Might Also Enjoy:
The Explorer's Guide to Drawing Fantasy Creatures (Emily Fiegenschuh) - My Review
The Fantasy Illustrator's Technique Book (Gary A. Lippincott) - My Review
DragonArt (J. "NeonDragon" Peffer) - My Review
Tuesday, July 14, 2015
Wicked Women: Notorious, Mischievous, and Wayward Ladies from the Old West (Chris Enss)
Wicked Women: Notorious, Mischievous, and Wayward Ladies from the Old West
Chris Enss
TwoDot
Nonfiction, History
*** (Okay)
DESCRIPTION: In 19th century America, many a starry-eyed man headed westward in search of gold, land, or simply a new start. Women headed west, too - not all of them prim and proper wives. Among the few opportunities for ladies were the card tables and the brothel... and, here, some managed to parlay poor circumstances into remarkable fortunes and legendary reputations. This book gathers tales of many "wicked" women of the Old West, from familiar names like Calamity Jane and Belle Starr to more obscure figures.
REVIEW: This looked like an interesting read, not to mention good story-sparking fodder. As promised, Enss offers profiles of many ladies of ill-repute. However, the quality of the articles varies wildly; some are fairly coherent histories, while others are merely thin sketches, with so little actual information on the woman in question that one wonders why Enss included them at all. He also tries a little too hard in places, most notably when he tries to set the scene at the start of each article - his strong suit is research, not prose. The stories often bleed together, though some few tales are unique enough to stand out in the memory. Overall, it's a decent look at a part of American history (and women's history) that classrooms often overlook, but little more than that.
You Might Also Enjoy:
The Writer's Guide to Everyday Life in the Wild West (Candy Moulton) - My Review
Letters of a Woman Homesteader (Elinore Pruitt Stewart) - My Review
Insubordinate Spirit (Missy Wolfe) - My Review
Chris Enss
TwoDot
Nonfiction, History
*** (Okay)
DESCRIPTION: In 19th century America, many a starry-eyed man headed westward in search of gold, land, or simply a new start. Women headed west, too - not all of them prim and proper wives. Among the few opportunities for ladies were the card tables and the brothel... and, here, some managed to parlay poor circumstances into remarkable fortunes and legendary reputations. This book gathers tales of many "wicked" women of the Old West, from familiar names like Calamity Jane and Belle Starr to more obscure figures.
REVIEW: This looked like an interesting read, not to mention good story-sparking fodder. As promised, Enss offers profiles of many ladies of ill-repute. However, the quality of the articles varies wildly; some are fairly coherent histories, while others are merely thin sketches, with so little actual information on the woman in question that one wonders why Enss included them at all. He also tries a little too hard in places, most notably when he tries to set the scene at the start of each article - his strong suit is research, not prose. The stories often bleed together, though some few tales are unique enough to stand out in the memory. Overall, it's a decent look at a part of American history (and women's history) that classrooms often overlook, but little more than that.
You Might Also Enjoy:
The Writer's Guide to Everyday Life in the Wild West (Candy Moulton) - My Review
Letters of a Woman Homesteader (Elinore Pruitt Stewart) - My Review
Insubordinate Spirit (Missy Wolfe) - My Review
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