Guest Posting with Adrienne deWolfe

Today I’m branching out and guest posting for author Adrienne deWolfe over on her blog.  At the time I’m writing this the post isn’t up yet (and won’t be until 9:15am CST), but when I come home from work I”ll give you an exact link.  So in the meantime, please check out Adrienne’s blog for all things writer-related.

If you’re wondering, my guest post is about book reviewing/reviewer FAQs.  When do you call yourself a reviewer?  How do you, as an author, get your book reviewed by a book blogger?  You know, the usual things.

UPDATE 09/01/13: Okay, I’m dumb.  It’s not until next Wednesday.

E-learning 101 by Dr. Liz Hardy

E-learning 101 by Dr. Liz Hardy(Cover picture courtesy of Kristina’s Favorites.)

E-learning 101 is the friendliest online learning guide on the planet!

Unlike other online study guides, E-learning 101 makes solving e-learning problems fun. Smiling dogs appear on most pages, helping the online learner to smile, relax, and engage with simple and accessible e-learning strategies.

The book presents 6 short lessons. Each lesson defines a common e-learning problem, and then walks readers through a series of steps to solve it. Interactive worksheets are included with every lesson, empowering readers to fix their e-learning problems right then and there.

The lessons are short, but cover the biggest e-learning issues:

* E-learning technology

* Finding more time to study

* Self-motivation

* Procrastination cures

* How to submit assignments on time, and

* Avoiding loneliness when learning online.

This online study guide inspires new online learners to face e-learning with confidence, replacing feelings of anxiety with action and achievement.

[Full disclosure: Liz Hardy sent me a free ebook in exchange for an honest review.]

This isn’t normally the sort of book I’d review, but E-learning 101 is useful not only for adults learning online, but for teenagers too.  Especially teenagers in small schools who have to take some courses online that their school doesn’t offer.

I find that one of the downfalls of most how-to books is that they don’t actually explain how to do things, but only give you tips without the reasoning behind them.  Not so in Liz Hardy’s book!  Not only does she tell you what to expect, she tells you some things you can do to make learning by correspondence easier and some common pitfalls students face.  At the end of every chapter she has a box you can write in so you can actually apply the lessons she teaches you to your course.

Finally, adult learners who are either currently using e-learning or expect to be using e-learning can read a book that gives practical advice about what e-learning is like.  There’s tips on scheduling time to work on your course, getting rid of procrastination (one of my personal bad habits) and avoiding loneliness.  Really, what else can I say?  This is 48 pages of pure gold!

Also: cute dog pictures on nearly every page, if you like dogs.

I give this book 5/5 stars.

Amazon

Nothing is Free

Rant Mode: On.

Today I got a very generic email from a blogger that wanted me to promote their blog here on The Mad Reviewer.  Here is a copy of the email:

Hey I was just wondering if you’d have a look at my blog (www.anotherpretentiousteenagethemedblog.com) and if you enjoy it would you mind promoting it on your blog?
I loved your list!
Cheers
🙂

Okay, so the domain name isn’t real but I’m certainly not giving the person in question the publicity they were asking for.  I sent them a reply, not-so-politely informing them that I do not work for free.  Thus, my rant today: nothing is free.

But wait, Carrie, you say.  Don’t you run this blog for free?  Don’t you guest post for free?  Don’t you review books for free?

Eh, not really. Continue reading →

The Girl of Fire and Thorns by Rae Carson

The Girl of Fire and Thorns by Rae Carson(Cover picture courtesy of A Soul Unsung.)

Once a century, one person is chosen for greatness.

Elisa has always felt powerless, useless.  Now, on her sixteenth birthday, she has become the secret wife of a handsome and worldly king—a king who needs her to be the chosen one, not a failure of a princess.  And he’s not the only one who seeks her.  Savage enemies, seething with dark magic, are hunting her.  A daring, determined revolutionary thinks she could save his people.  And he looks at her in a way no man has ever looked at her before.  Elisa could be everything to those who need her most.  If the prophecy is fulfilled.  If she finds the power deep within herself.  If she doesn’t die young.

Most of the chosen do.

At first I hated The Girl of Fire and Thorns, but by the end I actually didn’t mind it.  The first 2/3s of the book bored me to tears and I wanted to slap Elisa for being such a wimp, but she acquired a spine in the last third of the book and it seems like Rae Carson’s writing improved.  Now I’m left with the question: how was the book overall?  Meh, I say.  It could have been better, but I think the next book, The Crown of Embers is going to be better than the first.

On one hand, Elisa seems different from your typical YA protagonist.  In the beginning she truly is obese.  Not just “Oh no I gained 5 pounds!” ‘fat’, but honest-to-goodness obese.  It’s a big part of her characterization and we see time and time again her unhealthy relationship with food.  However, that’s not the main aspect of her character: Elisa is very intelligent and is very well versed in military tactics that benefit her secret husband, King Alejandro.  Also: Alejandro is far from a strong male character; he’s quite a coward, actually.

On the other hand, being stuck in her point of view the whole time is annoying.  She walks into obvious traps, both literally and figuratively, and goes through a very predictable character arc when she falls in the hands of the rebels.  Yes, I understand that her transformation from self-conscious obese teenager to confident, more healthy woman is very believable in her situation.  But it feels too cut-and-dry and has very few hitches.  In my experience, such a large transformation is rarely easy, but it feels like Elisa just soars through and becomes the fearless rebel leader with few true difficulties.

The plot only really speeds up after she begins leading the rebels, more than halfway through the book.  I don’t mind a slow plot if the author makes up for it in world-building and descriptions, but Rae Carson didn’t really.  Her world-building seems thorough enough at a glimpse, but we learn very little about the Godstone, its purpose and the politics of all the regional rivalries in the country.  The devil is in the details, I guess.

Still, Rae Carson’s writing seemed to improve in the last third of the book and the ending makes the next one seem promising, if nothing else.  So yes, I will still be reading The Crown of Embers.  But I will not be buying it.

I give this book 3.5/5 stars.

Amazon     Barnes and Noble

Kushiel’s Avatar by Jacqueline Carey

Kushiel's Avatar by Jacqueline Carey

(Cover picture courtesy of Val’s Random Comments.)

The land of Terre d’Ange is a place of unsurpassed beauty and grace.  It is said that angels found the land and saw it was good…and the ensuing race that rose from the seed of angels and men live by one simple rule: Love as thou wilt.

Phèdre nó Delaunay is a woman pricked by Kushiel’s Dart, chosen to forever experience pain and pleasure as one.  Her path has been strange and dangerous, and through it all the devoted swordsman Joscelin has been at her side.  Her very nature is a torturous thing for them both, but he is sworn to her and he has never violated his vow: to protect and serve.

But Phèdre’s plans put Joscelin’s pledge to the test, for she has never forgotten her childhood friend Hyacinthe.  She has spent ten long years searching for the key to free him from his eternal indenture, a bargain he struck with the gods—to take Phèdre’s place as a sacrifice and save a nation.  Phèdre cannot forgive—herself or the gods.  She is determined to seize one last hope to redeem her friend, even if it means her death.

The search will bring Phèdre and Joscelin across the world, to distant courts where madness reigns and souls are currency, and down a fabled river to a land forgotten by most of the world.

And to a power so mighty that none dare speak its name.

What a great end to a great trilogy!

In Kushiel’s Avatar we finally see what happened to the east in Jacqueline Carey’s alternate Medieval era.  Not only has the kingdom of Akkad not fallen, Egypt has not fallen either because in this version, Cleopatra beat Rome (called the Tiberian empire).  But of course there’s a purpose to all this travel and it’s really twofold: Melisande’s son Imriel has gone missing and Phèdre has promised her she will do anything she can to find him.

What both poor Imriel and Phèdre endure at the court of the Mahrkragir is horrendous and it’s not temporary either.  Even later in the book, both characters are wrestling with and trying to come to turns with what happened.  I won’t go into more detail than that, but I think you can guess what happened to both of them.  However, this is an important part of Imriel’s characterization and it adds a new dimension to Phèdre, who is settling down now that she is older (about 32 at the beginning) and taking less and less assignments.  The dynamic between Phèdre and Joscelin has changed and it seems they have come to terms with Phèdre being Kushiel’s Chosen.  Joscelin is quite a different character in the beginning of Kushiel’s Avatar and his character arc certainly is complete by the end of the book.

The plot involves, of course, a lot of travelling, but that is generally expected in fantasy/alternate history.  There were times it was a little slow and things were sort of bogged down in Menekhet, but overall I was quite pleased with the pacing.  It was definitely more character-driven than plot-driven, so it’s a good thing Phèdre can hold my attention as a character.  I thought the ending wrapped things up a little too nicely, but I think all the characters deserve such an ending after all the suffering they went through.  As I said, it’s a great ending to a great trilogy and I look forward to the spin-off trilogy about Imriel.

I give this book 4.5/5 stars.

Amazon     Barnes and Noble