Book Review: "Like A Brother" by Nathanael Lessore

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⭐ out of 5

It's been a while since I read and reviewed my last children's book but this first paragraph will still be the same as the last one, which says that each book I read and review starts off with the full 5 stars and I'm always hopeful that they will all still be stuck firmly in place by the time I close the back cover.  The most common reason for an otherwise 5 star book becoming a 4 star book is through the use of copyrighted and/or trademarked brands potentially without permission.  There has been one book so far that has had the star rapidly replaced thanks to a magic little sentence right at the back saying that the author had gained permission to use the brand name - it's only happened once so far in the hundreds of books that I've read and reviewed so far, but I'm always hopeful that it'll happen again and I'd love to read that magic little sentence again.

I was pre-approved by the publisher to read and review an ARC of this book a month before it was published.

Let's get going with the reading and reviewing shall we?

The buying information says that this book is for "11 years and up" and is 336 pages long which is too long for a middle-grade book unless it's a sci-fi or fantasy book, so the first star is already wobbly before I've even opened the book.  It also says that it's a "teen comedy" but 11 year olds aren't teenagers and I already don't know if this is a middle-grade or teen book!

I'm at the end of the second chapter and there have already been a couple of word choices that an 11 year old wouldn't understand and a mis-placed capitalisation that should have been picked up waaaay before the publisher put it into pre-publication circulation so the first star is already coming off at the end of the first page.

And now, on page 3, we've got two English football teams named, so the second star is already coming off... will I make it to the end of the first chapter without removing the third star??

I think the author is as confused about the ages of his characters as I am because they've just become teenagers, but the author hasn't said how long ago that was... was it this year?  Last year?  Longer than that?  According to my Kindle, I'm 2% of the way through the book and the utter confusion is making me take the third star off... there's 98% to go and only one star left before it officially becomes a DNF for me.

Less than a paragraph later and the author has used two celebrity names/brands which I can't see them giving permission for, so at only 2% and less than a chapter I'm removing the final star and declaring it another DNF unfortunately.

Book Review: "To Kill A Mockingbird" by Harper Lee

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⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ out of 5

Each book I read and review starts off with the full 5 stars and I'm always hopeful that they will all still be stuck firmly in place by the time I close the back cover.  I'm not shy about removing stars but I always give my reasons for doing so within the review.

I've never read a classic book in my life but this was recommended by a friend and I've got a few more classics to try reading as well, but this is my first ever classic so I'll go into it with an open mind and try and remember that it was written a looong time ago.

Let's get going with the reading and reviewing shall we?

Well, I've read 6 pages so far and I'm starting to see how much books have changed over the decades.  Most of the paragraphs are way longer than they are now, but maybe that was the thing to do at the time this book was written?

I'm enjoying this book more than I thought I would, but the extra-long chapters and the rare speech is a bit off-putting.  I'm up to chapter 7 so far.

Up to chapter 9 now and it's time for a warming drink methinks.  There's a bit more speech now, but still barely any compared to today's books.

Up to Part Two now and I'm gonna stop for a breather after reading pretty much constantly all morning.  It's a good book, but some of the language that's used is horrific!  I guess it must have been common in the time that it was written though so the star is safe, but only because it's a classic instead of modern.

I've just finished reading my first ever classic book and while I didn't like some of the language, it was a different era back when it was written and published.  I doubt I'll read it again, but I'm glad I've got my first one under my belt now.

Opinions please!

I was struck by a character name and a potential series with this character, but I don't know if I should make the book(s) an early reader, an easy reader or a MG purely because of the character's name.

I'm not gonna assign a gender to Fairy Nuff so that all the young readers can hopefully feel able to relate to them, but would the name "Fairy Nuff" make it harder for the child reader when they were taught to spell 'enough' or am I overthinking things please?

2026 has started...

...with me editing my second grown-up memoir for JanNo and I'm gonna put it through it's second edit in February and hopefully kick it into good enough to self-publish again in time for the changing of the seasons, then maybe a Picture Book or, if I've got an idea by then, another Early or Easy reader then back to a MG/YA book for NaNo26.

Book Review of: "The Toy Car: A short story" by Rose Tremain

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⭐⭐⭐ out of 5 stars

Every book I read and review starts off in the same way, by me saying that each book starts off with the full passport of 5 stars and that I'm always hopeful that they will all still be stuck firmly in place.  I'm not shy about removing stars but I always give my reasons for doing so within the review - they don't just vanish.

This is a short story of only 48 pages so the author has got her work cut out to get the full load of stars!

I'm already at 20% and the first star is coming off for use of a couple of brand names, potentially without permission, so in fairness to past books which have had stars removed for the same reason, we are now down to 4 stars.

This is such a dull book that the teen reader it's aimed at would have given up by now, let alone an adult.  There's very little speech and the writing is just so boring that it's a struggle for me to read.  The second star is coming off at 58% and I'm grateful that it's such a short book so that I can hopefully finish it instead of giving up after only a few chapters.  Down to 3 stars now.

A disappointing end to a dull book.  It had so much potential that the author just didn't use.

2026 will see me...

...writing for children again and my non-NaNo novel is already planned out and ready to be written.

I wrote my first memoir for NaNo24 and I've written my second memoir for NaNo25, just a month early is all 'cos of getting my two jabs and I write to take my mind off the side-effects.

Hopefully back to normal again next year though.

Other than my non-NaNo26 novel, I'm all out of ideas for what else to write so any ideas from you, my wonderful blog readers, are most welcome!

I've decided...

...that I'll still write in November and edit in January and reward myself with a J2O for every 5k I write/significantly edit as if NaNo and JanNo were still going but I won't pressure myself to complete the manuscript/edit or feel bad if I don't manage the whole thing within the month.

I'm also still a SCBWI member, it's just being moved about a bit in the British Isles and there will be more RAs and ARAs as well as people with specific roles within that so it'll hopefully still be the same as it was, just in smaller groups instead of for the entire country.

I think I've realised that I'm still not alone, I've just gotta reorganise my head for a while.

The last...

...writing organisation is being restructured, so that's the third and final writing community that I joined is potentially gonna change beyond recognition/close, so I'm on my own with my writing again now.

The restructuring will be to make the region into smaller regions, so the organisation will still exist, but it doesn't seem like there will be much/any community between all the different regions.

I can see it from both sides and I'll stay a member until I make up my mind one way or the other, but there's no central community for my children's writing any more.

I've just...

...read the plan for what would have been my NaNo novel and I think I've hit the nail on the head with this one.

It starts with a huge amount of anger and stroppiness by the MC and the foster dad is feeling pretty worried about how he'll cope.  The MC goes through all kinds of emotions throughout but they and their blood family finally start to understand what love is and where they had all been going wrong.

It's definitely a happily-ever-after ending, especially the last chapter, but I think I've finally hit the sweet spot with this manuscript and I'm feeling proud and emotional right now.  I hope I do it justice when I come to write it.

In case you haven't heard...

...NaNo is no more.  

The site is still there but only until the money runs out then that's it.

Another part of my life ripped out of my heart.

I've got 4 domains in its memory but that's all the motivation to keep writing completely gone now.

I'll still keep writing, but I haven't got anything to aim for each year any more now.

If you were a donor to NaNo then you will hopefully be able to export everything in your NaNo account, but those who, like me, weren't a donator seem to be screwed.   If I'm wrong about non-donators being able to keep the stuff in their account, could you let me know how to do it as I haven't got an export link or button anywhere in my account and I just got a standard message saying "we've received your message but won't be reading or replying 'cos we'll be inundated" when I emailed them and all the information I've found talks about using the export link to download everything which I haven't got anywhere!!

A week later and...

...the plan of my gently magical MG NaNo25 novel is finally in the bag.  I had a few days off for some reason, but managed to plan out 20 chapters today, which is pretty good going... I just need to remember so that I don't get in a flap in September lol

I've started...

...planning out my NaNo25 manuscript and I've managed to plan out 5 chapters this afternoon.  If I can get 5 done each day I should hopefully be finished with the planning by around the 20th but I'm not gonna rush it and confuse myself.

It'll be a MG fantasy and I'm already starting to get a feel for my main character's personality after only 5 chapters and 3 hours so that's pretty good, considering that this time last year I was planning out a grown-up misery memoir for NaNo24 so this is so totally different and needs a totally different part of my brain to work.

It's too close to bed-time for a hot choccie, but I'm back into the right headspace again now and will be able to totally focus on that for the rest of February ready for my NaNo24 manuscript to be torn to shreds and hopefully re-written in March.

Book Review: "My Summer In Israel" by Isaac Neuman

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⭐ out of 5 stars

If you've read any of my other recent book reviews, you'll already know that they all start off with the full library load of stars and that I'm always hopeful that they will all still be firmly in place by the time I close the back cover.

It's been a while since I last read and reviewed a children's book, but that's about to change.

Let's get going with the reading and reviewing shall we?

Oh dear.  I'm only on the first page of the book and the author is already treating it like an adult non-fiction book... a child would get confused about the numbers and explanations of each term used so the first star is coming off already.

The text is very hard to read because it's white text on a dark background and it's already giving me a headache, so after only 6 pages we are already down to 3 stars!

Now we've got what I assume is Hebrew that not even most adults would know even the basics of, let alone a child so the third star is, unfortunately, coming off.

As the book progresses, the explanations are getting harder and harder to understand because they are so blurry, so the final star is coming off and I'm giving up on it.  If a late 40's adult can't even finish the book then a child stands no chance!

Opinions please!

Now that I've got a printer that actually works and I've finished the initial research of my NaNo/JanNo book (which, for the first time in my life, will NOT be a children's book) that I can't do anything else with until I've got the delivery in my hands on Wednesday, I'm pondering on another first - printing out each manuscript and editing it on paper instead of just on the computer, like I have done up to now.

I've got a Neurological disability which severely affects my memory and makes me easily confused (according to an A&E medical bod in my hospital notes back in 2003/2004) and I can't afford to waste paper and ink if it doesn't work for me, but I'm pondering on printing and editing each of my MSs on paper instead of exclusively on screen like I have done up to now.

My new printer apparently does double-sided printing which will save paper, but I've never even seen that on a printer and I don't wanna get so peed off with it that I throw the whole thing through the window in a fit of utter frustration, but I wanna give each MS the best chance to shine in front of future agents that I query.

Soo, what do you reckon I should do please?  Stick to just technology for editing and keeping my fingers crossed that I haven't made any major screw-ups, or do I print out and hope that it helps rather than hinders me?

I'm open to any and all ideas you wanna throw my way!

Book Review: "Four Eids and a Funeral" by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé and Adiba Jaigirdar

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⭐ out of 5

If you've read any of my other recent book reviews, you'll know that I start them all off in the same way and that is by saying that every book I read and review starts off with the full heart-load of 5 stars and that I'm always hopeful that they'll all still be firmly stuck in place by the time I close the back cover.  You'll also know that I'm not shy about taking off stars, usually for copyright or trademark infringement but if there's a magic little sentence then that star stays firmly in place.  I also always give my reasons for taking off stars, they don't just disappear for no reason.

Let's get going shall we?

I love reading and learning about other cultures and I'm hoping I'll come out of the other side of this book a better person cos right now I have to admit that I don't know what an Eid is or even how to pronounce it!  I'm guessing that it's a date because of the cover and this is a children's book, but I'm hoping I'll find out for sure as I read this book.

I'm also a romantic at heart, but comedy is a toughie for me... most comedic books, especially rom-coms don't usually even start a smile... will this book be any different?  I really hope so!

Oh dear, a trademark infringement already... I'll give the authors the benefit of the doubt, but one more mention of a trademarked or copyrighted anything and the first star is coming off.

I don't know anything about Ms Barnes but I already care and understand after a single chapter.  Will this book have me in tears rather than laughter?

Oh dear, there's a swear at the start of the second chapter that really isn't appropriate for such a young audience so the first star is coming off already unfortunately.

And now there's a well-known singer so the wobbly star has officially fallen... that's two stars lost in 2 pages - will they be the only ones?

And another even worse swear on the next page that is really only suitable for older teens rather than the younger teens that this book is aimed at... this book started off amazingly well and I could honestly see me enjoying every word, but not any more.  Will I get to 25% without losing another star?

And another swear two paragraphs later... how on earth did this book get published?!

In the space of only three pages, this book has gone from "great going!" to  "I give up already" because there's another trademark mentioned.  It was a fantastic first chapter but I'm quickly losing hope of regaining that sense of being desperate to keep reading unfortunately.

Now children who are still at school are able to legally drive!  Maybe I'm out of touch with America, but over here in the UK that's illegal until you've got at least your provisional driving license!  That's another star gone now!  After only two chapters I'm already down to 2 stars so there's only one possible one left to lose before I stop reading waaay before the end of the book!

I've made it through 6% of the book so far this afternoon and I've already had to take 3 stars off... will I make it to 10% without taking off the last one?

Apparently there's 6 hours and 45 minutes left in the book so it seems like a good opportunity to finish for the night and get stuck in again tomorrow.  Thankfully that chapter was considerably better than the previous ones so maybe the authors were both having bad days when they wrote them?

Chapter 6 was OK to good-ish so hopefully I'm over the not-so-good bits now.  Gonna aim for another chapter before lunch and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it'll leave me feeling more positive than negative about the book.

Thaaat's more like it!  This book definitely has it's good points so the bad ones can almost be put to one side.  I've got 6 hours and 8 minutes left in the book apparently so I'm gonna aim for one more as I've read two in just under an hour so I'm hoping I'll've read another one in plenty of time.

Just finished reading the third chapter of the morning and I think I get where the comedy bit of this rom-com is supposed to be, but it's  a bit gentle for me and I haven't even started to smile yet.

Just finished Act 1... does that mean that I'm a third of the way through the book or something?  The authors are well into the characters lives now which makes for better reading I reckon.

And there goes the final star for copyright usage.  Only 36% of the way through and I'm giving up unfortunately.

Aaaand...

...we're back.

It's taken the best part of a month but the S4CG site (minus the members area) is finally back online.

You'd better hurry up and...

...download whatever you want to keep from the members area 'cos it's definitely gonna go, hopefully starting today, but we shall have to wait and see.  Basically, get your skates on 'cos the members area is gonna be non-existent soon!

Aaand...

...the manuscript and synopsis are finished, so it's time to celebrate with J2Os and chocolate for the rest of this evening now.

4 down, only 1 final chapter to go

I've just finished the penultimate chapter and been for yet another wee, so I'm gonna have my penultimate single chapter reward choccie and make a start on the last chapter of JanNo.

It'll be weird waking up and coming downstairs, knowing that I've finished writing the entire novel in only nine days!  Not sure what I'm gonna do with myself for the entire day lol

One of my deliveries has turned up, just before lunch, so I'm just waiting for my weekly groceries and the other delivery to turn up now, then I can finish off the three J2O's, the tub of chocolates and a mocktail, then seriously regret it for the rest of the day and evening lol

3 down, 2 to go

Just finished my third chapter of the morning and I've only got two more to go, so I've had my single chapter choccie reward and been for yet another wee (not been having a good time with my bladder recently), so I'm gonna make a start on the penultimate chapter now, while I keep my ear out for the door and my lunchtime carer, then my groceries and the two deliveries.