Examples of Reviews I have Done
Review: Eight Frames Eight
By Judith Cody
Publisher: Xilbris Corporation
ISBN: 1-4010-1360-0 (Hardcover)
1-4010-1361-9 (Softcover)
In today’s world there is little room for joy. Each day brings news of some new tragedy. There are very few lights that brighten our existence.
One such light exists in the form of Judith Cody’s book of poems, “Eight Frames Eight”. It is more than just a collection of words arranged to sound pretty. Each poem takes the reader on a journey into the realm of the human mind.
The book consists of five parts that move through the life cycle.
Part One - Primary Colors:
This section’s collection is full of life, color and the creation of beings, be they man, woman or beast. It tells of the awakening of the soul to its surroundings. Realizing that there is a meaning why it exists, one just needs wide eyes to see it.
Part Two - Perspective:
Deals with the human cultural environment, what does life mean, why do we exist. The poems bring forth images of people making blocks in the forge of creation, to discover whom they are. They reaffirm that a creative mind is a continual, probing, evolving thing.
Part Three - Life Blood:
I found this section to be the most searching and complex. So many facets of life are tackled in this part. A sense of being, belonging, being loved, wanted, is God real all this and more is examined.
Part Four - Soul Tears:
This part deals with that time in the life cycle that we all must face, death. It is not a morbid account of what is to be, but rather a celebration. Death is just the beginning of a journey through eternity.
Part Five - Epilogue:
Here the author discusses some notes on a few of the poems. It is interesting to see her thoughts and compare them to what her poems evoked in you.
Eight Frames Eight is a unique approach to the poetic art. The construction of the poems is as varied and colorful as the language. Poetry by its very nature will leave people with different perspectives of what the poet meant.
Judith Cody’s book will challenge the way you look at things. But I am sure it is a challenge that many readers will enjoy. I would highly recommend to all who enjoy creative writing, to read this excellent book of poems.
Review by Warren Thurston - Owner of Pentales
By Judith Cody
Publisher: Xilbris Corporation
ISBN: 1-4010-1360-0 (Hardcover)
1-4010-1361-9 (Softcover)
In today’s world there is little room for joy. Each day brings news of some new tragedy. There are very few lights that brighten our existence.
One such light exists in the form of Judith Cody’s book of poems, “Eight Frames Eight”. It is more than just a collection of words arranged to sound pretty. Each poem takes the reader on a journey into the realm of the human mind.
The book consists of five parts that move through the life cycle.
Part One - Primary Colors:
This section’s collection is full of life, color and the creation of beings, be they man, woman or beast. It tells of the awakening of the soul to its surroundings. Realizing that there is a meaning why it exists, one just needs wide eyes to see it.
Part Two - Perspective:
Deals with the human cultural environment, what does life mean, why do we exist. The poems bring forth images of people making blocks in the forge of creation, to discover whom they are. They reaffirm that a creative mind is a continual, probing, evolving thing.
Part Three - Life Blood:
I found this section to be the most searching and complex. So many facets of life are tackled in this part. A sense of being, belonging, being loved, wanted, is God real all this and more is examined.
Part Four - Soul Tears:
This part deals with that time in the life cycle that we all must face, death. It is not a morbid account of what is to be, but rather a celebration. Death is just the beginning of a journey through eternity.
Part Five - Epilogue:
Here the author discusses some notes on a few of the poems. It is interesting to see her thoughts and compare them to what her poems evoked in you.
Eight Frames Eight is a unique approach to the poetic art. The construction of the poems is as varied and colorful as the language. Poetry by its very nature will leave people with different perspectives of what the poet meant.
Judith Cody’s book will challenge the way you look at things. But I am sure it is a challenge that many readers will enjoy. I would highly recommend to all who enjoy creative writing, to read this excellent book of poems.
Review by Warren Thurston - Owner of Pentales
Review: Fissure Rock
Author: John Blair
Publisher: Xlibris Corporation
ISBN: 1-4134-2254-3
Fissure Rock is the latest creation from Canadian Author, John Blair. It is a Young Adult novel dealing with a period of change in the life of Jim Bridgeman. Jim is sixteen years old and finds his whole world suddenly turned inside out.
Uprooted from the city and moving to the small country town of Fissure Rock, Jim and his family wonder how they will cope in their new environment. His dad has a new job with Sacalla Real Estate and his mom obtained one at the local library.
Jim’s life changes forever on the first day at his new school. He meets Cynthia Sacalla, the Student Council President, in Mr King’s English class. She makes an immediate impression upon him, and he cannot get her out of his mind.
The boy next to him in English class, Andy, warns him to have nothing to do with Cynthia or her family. Jim chooses to ignore Andy’s warning and he and Cynthia become very close. She introduces him to her young brother Danny, who is fanatical about pro-style wrestling.
Soon Jim becomes embroiled in Cynthia’s circle of friends and Danny’s wrestling activities. Strangely, Cynthia and Danny seem to like videoing the make believe matches. It puzzles Jim why they would want to do this, but he is keen not to lose favor with Cynthia so he goes along with it.
One day Lisa, Jim’s younger sister, urgently calls him into her room. She shows him a web site she found on the Internet. The site is called Backyard Boys, featuring all do-it-yourself teenage wrestling federations. Jim is listed in one part of the site under the name of Jimmy Jobber. The site and his listing are completely unknown to him before. He is also deeply concerned that there is a message on the site’s message board addressed to him from a Mr Kween. The man states that he finds Jim very attractive.
When he raises the topics of the web site and the videos with Cynthia, she is quite calm about the matter. She tells him that she sells the videos to make money for worthwhile causes. As for Jim’s concerns about Mr Kween, she agrees to take all reference of Jim off the web site.
This takes some of the worry off Jim’s shoulders about what is happening since he moved to Fissure Rock. But he is not entirely sure just what Cynthia’s motives are towards him. Also there is still the matter of his dad’s strange new “working late” activities and Andy’s weird attitude towards him also plays on his mind.
After a particular bizarre wrestling match, in which he is severely beaten, Jim decides to leave home and head back to the city. He is confused with what is happening around him to himself and his family. Escape from the immediate situation seems to Jim, the only solution.
The trip to the city and its consequences bring all of what has happened to him at Fissure Rock into perspective. All is not what it seems to be on the surface. Once it is out in the open, Jim is able to collect himself and see the real Jim Bridgeman.
John Blair has penned a novel that will appeal to the audience it is aimed at. The book is powerfully written in terms that young adults will easily recognize. This is one book that deserves pride of place in school and home libraries.
Review by Warren Thurston - Owner of Pentales
Author: John Blair
Publisher: Xlibris Corporation
ISBN: 1-4134-2254-3
Fissure Rock is the latest creation from Canadian Author, John Blair. It is a Young Adult novel dealing with a period of change in the life of Jim Bridgeman. Jim is sixteen years old and finds his whole world suddenly turned inside out.
Uprooted from the city and moving to the small country town of Fissure Rock, Jim and his family wonder how they will cope in their new environment. His dad has a new job with Sacalla Real Estate and his mom obtained one at the local library.
Jim’s life changes forever on the first day at his new school. He meets Cynthia Sacalla, the Student Council President, in Mr King’s English class. She makes an immediate impression upon him, and he cannot get her out of his mind.
The boy next to him in English class, Andy, warns him to have nothing to do with Cynthia or her family. Jim chooses to ignore Andy’s warning and he and Cynthia become very close. She introduces him to her young brother Danny, who is fanatical about pro-style wrestling.
Soon Jim becomes embroiled in Cynthia’s circle of friends and Danny’s wrestling activities. Strangely, Cynthia and Danny seem to like videoing the make believe matches. It puzzles Jim why they would want to do this, but he is keen not to lose favor with Cynthia so he goes along with it.
One day Lisa, Jim’s younger sister, urgently calls him into her room. She shows him a web site she found on the Internet. The site is called Backyard Boys, featuring all do-it-yourself teenage wrestling federations. Jim is listed in one part of the site under the name of Jimmy Jobber. The site and his listing are completely unknown to him before. He is also deeply concerned that there is a message on the site’s message board addressed to him from a Mr Kween. The man states that he finds Jim very attractive.
When he raises the topics of the web site and the videos with Cynthia, she is quite calm about the matter. She tells him that she sells the videos to make money for worthwhile causes. As for Jim’s concerns about Mr Kween, she agrees to take all reference of Jim off the web site.
This takes some of the worry off Jim’s shoulders about what is happening since he moved to Fissure Rock. But he is not entirely sure just what Cynthia’s motives are towards him. Also there is still the matter of his dad’s strange new “working late” activities and Andy’s weird attitude towards him also plays on his mind.
After a particular bizarre wrestling match, in which he is severely beaten, Jim decides to leave home and head back to the city. He is confused with what is happening around him to himself and his family. Escape from the immediate situation seems to Jim, the only solution.
The trip to the city and its consequences bring all of what has happened to him at Fissure Rock into perspective. All is not what it seems to be on the surface. Once it is out in the open, Jim is able to collect himself and see the real Jim Bridgeman.
John Blair has penned a novel that will appeal to the audience it is aimed at. The book is powerfully written in terms that young adults will easily recognize. This is one book that deserves pride of place in school and home libraries.
Review by Warren Thurston - Owner of Pentales
Review of Angelos - By Robina Williams
Publisher: Twilight Times Books
ISBN: 1-9333353-60-0
Robina Williams has penned a brilliant sequel to “Jerome and the Seraph” with her latest offering in the form of “Angelos”. It is another look at life in the afterworld through the innocent eyes of Brother Jerome. When a Minotaur and Jerome are flung each from their own world, to that of the other, the reader is treated to a thought provoking and entertaining look at the metaphysical side of life.
Ontology it can be said is the study of the conceptions of reality. Quant the friary cat, tries in his unique way, to educate the rather non-perceptive Jerome in the intricacies of the interaction between the past and present, the known and unknown. It takes little effort on his part to transgress his body from one place and one world to the next. This is a process that Jerome handles with great difficulty and often finds himself in trouble because of it.
Jerome is a reluctant student of Quant, who at times thinks he has the solution to the cat’s concept of time and space mapped out in his head. Then quite suddenly he realizes that he is further away from understanding what is happening than he was before. This both amuses and frustrates Quant as he takes Jerome on a tour of Knossos and other mythological places from the past.
Throughout the book the reader is given glimpses of the inner turmoil going on in the friary now that the Fidelis’ replacement has arrived. The new guardian, Aidan, is a person traveling on a personal journey of discovery in the wilderness of his soul. How he attempts to resolve his inner torments and doubts casts the equilibrium of the friary into a spin. The possible final resolution of this quandary keeps the level of suspense within the friary at a high pitch.
The author’s lucid imagery through her choice of language gives the story its solidarity. Intertwined within the fabric of the plot are passages of prose that challenge the concept of religion in relation to a culture’s understanding of itself, and where it fits into the cosmos. Quant provides an excellent platform to carry through ideas dealing with where a modern society sees itself and where it has come from.
This is a thought-provoking book that I found delightful to read. It is as every bit as good as its predecessor “Jerome and the Seraph”. Readers of that book will welcome “Angelos” into their library with enthusiasm, as will those readers new to this wonderful author’s craft.
Review by Warren Thurston - Owner of Pentales
Publisher: Twilight Times Books
ISBN: 1-9333353-60-0
Robina Williams has penned a brilliant sequel to “Jerome and the Seraph” with her latest offering in the form of “Angelos”. It is another look at life in the afterworld through the innocent eyes of Brother Jerome. When a Minotaur and Jerome are flung each from their own world, to that of the other, the reader is treated to a thought provoking and entertaining look at the metaphysical side of life.
Ontology it can be said is the study of the conceptions of reality. Quant the friary cat, tries in his unique way, to educate the rather non-perceptive Jerome in the intricacies of the interaction between the past and present, the known and unknown. It takes little effort on his part to transgress his body from one place and one world to the next. This is a process that Jerome handles with great difficulty and often finds himself in trouble because of it.
Jerome is a reluctant student of Quant, who at times thinks he has the solution to the cat’s concept of time and space mapped out in his head. Then quite suddenly he realizes that he is further away from understanding what is happening than he was before. This both amuses and frustrates Quant as he takes Jerome on a tour of Knossos and other mythological places from the past.
Throughout the book the reader is given glimpses of the inner turmoil going on in the friary now that the Fidelis’ replacement has arrived. The new guardian, Aidan, is a person traveling on a personal journey of discovery in the wilderness of his soul. How he attempts to resolve his inner torments and doubts casts the equilibrium of the friary into a spin. The possible final resolution of this quandary keeps the level of suspense within the friary at a high pitch.
The author’s lucid imagery through her choice of language gives the story its solidarity. Intertwined within the fabric of the plot are passages of prose that challenge the concept of religion in relation to a culture’s understanding of itself, and where it fits into the cosmos. Quant provides an excellent platform to carry through ideas dealing with where a modern society sees itself and where it has come from.
This is a thought-provoking book that I found delightful to read. It is as every bit as good as its predecessor “Jerome and the Seraph”. Readers of that book will welcome “Angelos” into their library with enthusiasm, as will those readers new to this wonderful author’s craft.
Review by Warren Thurston - Owner of Pentales
Review of Shenandoah Whispers and Echoes - By Tom Orrell
A Xlibris Corporation Publication
ISBN: Hardcover 1-410-4708-4
Softcover 1-410-4707-6
Personal honour and integrity are two of the most valued and fought for human traits. They are built into each of us, their value varying from culture to culture and the passage of time. Tom Orrell’s book - Shenandoah Whispers and Echoes - takes a new look at these components of our inner self.
Based on the actual journal of a 19th century Virginian, Mr James Wise, the book entwines the reader from start to finish. The events depicted are based on fact, and brought to life by the application of the author’s literary skills. Beginning at a time when America found itself in a civil war, the book takes the reader on a journey. It is a journey filled with the joy and tragedy of a man steeled in his resolve to survive.
The book takes on a character of its own, as if it indeed was James Wise himself, telling his story face to face with the reader. There is not one moment of lethargy in the verse. This is the essence of good story telling, advancing the plot at a pace suitable for the writing style. One quickly builds an empathy with James Wise. Feeling as he must have felt as he struggled with the constant changes in his personal life, and that of the world around him.
To give away too much detail of James Wise’s journey through life in this review, would reduce the joy of reading this wonderful book. Readers can look forward to a book, which shows in great detail what life was like in the South during America’s dark time.
Tom Orrell Displays a good sense of drama in the execution of his craft. His writing style will have readers demanding new works penned in a similar vein. This is a book I just could not put down, and one that I highly recommend as a must read.
Review by Warren Thurston - Owner of Pentales
A Xlibris Corporation Publication
ISBN: Hardcover 1-410-4708-4
Softcover 1-410-4707-6
Personal honour and integrity are two of the most valued and fought for human traits. They are built into each of us, their value varying from culture to culture and the passage of time. Tom Orrell’s book - Shenandoah Whispers and Echoes - takes a new look at these components of our inner self.
Based on the actual journal of a 19th century Virginian, Mr James Wise, the book entwines the reader from start to finish. The events depicted are based on fact, and brought to life by the application of the author’s literary skills. Beginning at a time when America found itself in a civil war, the book takes the reader on a journey. It is a journey filled with the joy and tragedy of a man steeled in his resolve to survive.
The book takes on a character of its own, as if it indeed was James Wise himself, telling his story face to face with the reader. There is not one moment of lethargy in the verse. This is the essence of good story telling, advancing the plot at a pace suitable for the writing style. One quickly builds an empathy with James Wise. Feeling as he must have felt as he struggled with the constant changes in his personal life, and that of the world around him.
To give away too much detail of James Wise’s journey through life in this review, would reduce the joy of reading this wonderful book. Readers can look forward to a book, which shows in great detail what life was like in the South during America’s dark time.
Tom Orrell Displays a good sense of drama in the execution of his craft. His writing style will have readers demanding new works penned in a similar vein. This is a book I just could not put down, and one that I highly recommend as a must read.
Review by Warren Thurston - Owner of Pentales