A baker’s dozen of real life, but different, e- books that I’ve read in the last couple of years.
Once again, from a cost point of view, the e-book has the advantage of the printed book. As I said in my last blog I’ll risk a dollar or so on unknown authors to read novels, but I also like biographical books about people who have stepped out of their comfort zone.
I do enjoy reading books written by people who have changed their lives for one reason or another. Perhaps the change was caused by redundancy, or a casual remark that grows in to action, or the thought that you would like to do something in memory of a loved one – I find them all very entertaining and readable. The percentages have been taken from Amazon reviews of each book.
82% – 4 & 5 * reviews – a total of 148 reviews
A light hearted look as to how a family coped with the loss of employment by the bread winner. Having been made redundant myself at 55, I had great sympathy for the family and wanted to know how they coped. I think they had more fun, and really lived `life’ the day they left their secure environment and took up narrow boating. The flow of the story pulls you along with the family, whether it is turning a seventy-foot boat in a sixty-eight foot wide canal or the male leaping ashore to moor the boat, only to realise what he thought was solid ground turned out to be less solid than anticipated. It has drama, comedy, pathos within a travel book that doesn’t travel all that far from its origin. The book is different, and for me it was a pleasure to read.
64 % 4 & 5 * reviews – a total of 503 reviews
It’s a long time since I laughed out loud when reading a book, but I did with More Ketchup than Salsa. The author captures the feeling of ‘is this all we have’ in a down trodden job in a grimy north of England city. You can feel the dampness and the rain in the author’s writing. For me this was an enjoyable book to read. I was surprised at the low 4 & 5 * percentage.
83% 4 & 5 * reviews
Have you ever thought that a casual comment would change your life?
It did for Craig Briggs, and Journey to a Dream is his story. I read this book while travelling in Spain, so my location added to the overall enjoyment. The story is entertaining and the author’s style of writing makes it an easy read.
A light, but an interesting read. I enjoy books where people step outside their normal comfort zone and make a ‘go’ of the change.
89 % 4 & 5 * reviews
I wonder what the future will hold for these Anglo-Saxons living in Spain, now that the UK is leaving the EEC. I think they will take it all in their stride, and perhaps produce another book.
I like `off centre’ books that tell of personal desires to create, or complete tasks, that others might find a little `odd’. I came across `Vic’s Big Walk’ on Amazon while looking for something to read during an anticipated long flight. Not knowing anything about the author or his goals the thought of someone recording his effort to walk from the Pyrenees to Blackpool at seventy years of age, sparked my desire for an off centre read. I was not disappointed, as the author’s prose is very readable. He drew me in to his, and his wife’s, life as he walked nearly 2000 kilometers towards his childhood home town in the UK. His observations of the people he meets and the places he visits, along with his daily stop for coffee, creates a feeling that the reader is looking over the author’s shoulder and is part of the experience. I thoroughly enjoyed Vic’s Big Walk and at the end of the book I was pleased to note that all profits from the sales would go to pancreatic cancer research – a cancer that caused the early death of my own father.
If you like a well written travel book, which isn’t a travel book, but a personal record of a man’s effort to do something unusual, and still benefit others, read Vic’s Long Walk and enjoy his story, while making you feel good. 93% 4 & 5 * reviews
A very interesting story. I am of a similar age to the author, so his book brought back a lot of memories of my youth. The influence, of the company created by the author, on the music world, comes alive without it being a brag about the author’s accomplishments. I read this while on holiday and found it strange that it stuck in my mind long after I’d finished the book. If you are interested in the history of how they created popular music in the 60’s & 70’s this is the book for you. 85% 4 & 5 * reviews
What an interesting travel book –
It is the type of travel book that you can pick up and put down – each destination has a short 500 word story of the author’s experiences in a particular destination. I was able to dip in and out as I pleased and periodically through the book, the author has included photographs of the previous places mentioned. Besides the author’s admiration of certain places, he also points out the pit falls – particularly when eating street food in Asia. 89% 4 & 5* reviews
An entertaining short book of about 89 pages, read it in a single sitting. It reminded me of the sort of chapters one reads in Readers Digest – condensed information of the writer’s trips. Enjoyable, but only up to a point 63 % 4 * 5 * reviews
Overall I enjoyed the book, it was an easy read, and each chapter could be read as a stand-alone piece, if the reader had a particular interest in a specific destination.
This not a negative comment, but I had the feeling that each chapter could have been sent to magazines as a single article. I think it is a book that would interest those who have not travelled a great deal, rather than a person who has travelled. 80% 4 & 5 * reviews – 198 reviews
I haven’t met the author, nor heard of her as a filmmaker, but she e-mailed me and asked if I would like to read her book. I checked the outline of the book and found that she worked as a young woman in Afghanistan filming news items, and this sounded interesting, so I agreed.
The first part of the book was exciting as she detailed her time in Afghanistan as a young film reporter for TV stations. The reasons for various TV station & print media showing or rejecting her work confirmed my own thoughts on the moral standing of certain elements of the media in today’s world.
On the author’s return from overseas we are told of her relationship with her then boyfriend, and various girlfriends, as well as her mother. After the excitement of Afghanistan & her visit to Russia during the cold war, for me, the soul searching for a spiritual anchor and her relationships with friends and relatives was of less interest than her work. Overall I found the book to be an easy read at 180 pages, and the details of her time in Afghanistan was fast paced and read like a novel. 98% 4 & 5 * reviews
A clear account of how people can be conned. I was surprised that so many Christians were duped when one would expect them to question how such a high daily return could be obtained, and from where the high return originated. 88% 4 & 5 * reviews
An educational read without being force fed information. Obviously one eyed from a US perspective, but that was to be expected considering the book’s title. I enjoyed the book, even though it was ‘shallow’ in parts. It is not a deep historical book of politics and tactical military moves, just many anecdotal tales by those who took apart in WW2. 88% 4 & 5 * reviews a total of 487 reviews
A very funny book with strong Australian overtones, but with sad moments as the author tries to find his son.
95 % 4 & 5 * reviews
silverfox175 