Behind the Iron Curtain

Behind the Iron Curtain

Maxim Starchenko

This book details the life of a boy on the Druzhba-78 Hockey team from the Ukraine. The coach used every abuse tactic in the book to "motivate" the boys. He, the coach, was a monster that shouldn't have been allowed around children. But for some reason the author endured eleven years of his abuse before he was able to get away from him to go to college. His parents weren't aware of the problem and forced him to stay with the team. The author wrote this book to reveal what type of coach is still teaching children in the Ukraine. But I also believe he wrote it as a therapeutic measure.

This book was very well written. Considering that the author is writing as an ESL (English as a second language) the grammar, spelling and wording were great. I was impressed with the writing style even before I knew who wrote the book. The story ends on a positive note, which is nice considering what you will have just read. The details of the story are what brought it down for me. As a mother, it is very hard to read of the abuse to children. If you have a weak stomach then don't read this book. The author mentioned that he felt similar to Dave from "A Child Called It". I definitely saw similarities between the two books as far as the abuse went.

While I can say that I completely understand the reasons for writing the book and enjoyed the the writing style, I can't say as I enjoyed reading the subject matter. I just hope that the author uses his writing skills to write another book.

I received this book free of charge from Dorrance Publishing in exchange for my honest review.

Now That We Are Married

Now That We Are Married, What Should We Do?

A Cookbook with Scripture, Prayer, Suggestions, and Praise

Jackie Lucas-Buck

This book is supposed to be a cookbook peppered with the author's advice on marriage. It begins with a list of random advice, some of which  includes getting regular check ups, adding Coke to beans to get ride of gas and making coffee ice cubes.

After each recipe is an author statement (ie: I love pineapple, family favorite), scripture verse and some random comments from the author that don't seem to go with the recipe.

Some of the recipes seem to be more ideas than recipes. For example, one of them is how to arrange a fruit tray with the comment that she arranged it with her sister-in-law. Not very helpful to me.

The book is, as usual for Dorrance Publishing, peppered with typos and grammar errors.

Wouldn't recommend this book.

I received this book free of charge from Dorrance Publishing in exchange for my honest review.

The Call of the Christmas Pecan Tree

The Call of the Christmas Pecan Tree

Edna Stewart

A small town city council decides to cut down an old pecan tree. The town people are upset and set about trying to save the tree.

The book was written in a flowing way that reminded me of poetry. It jumps all over the place from topic to topic, person to person. The tree is given human characteristics, as well as other non-human things.

I'm not a huge poetry fan so that may be the reason I couldn't seem to follow the story. It jumped topic so often that I was left confused for the entire book. There are quite a few spelling and grammar errors that also make the story difficult to follow.

I received this book free of charge from Dorrance Publishing in exchange for my honest review.

Your Children, Your Money

Your Children, Your Money

David Turman

The author married and suddenly found himself with three teenage (or almost teenage) stepchildren. The entire family lived in a small apartment and both adults worked full time. This book is about his solution to getting the work done around the house while providing his family with the money that they needed.

His basic solution is to make a list of the tasks required. Set a dollar amount to each task. Then have a family meeting to talk about who takes what job, how often the jobs are accomplished, etc.

It was a very simplistic book with a straight forward approach to household chores. There weren't any frills or stories, but everything was laid out very clearly and neatly.

I received this book from Dorrance Publishing Company in exchange for my honest review.

Grandma's Cookbook

Grandma's Back to Basics All Natural More Than Just a Cookbook

Teresa Thompson

The author wrote this cookbook because she has allergies. I made the assumption that this book was going to be a healthy cookbook. It isn't at all. There are quite a few recipes that call for lard, real butter, lots of sugar, etc. But the author does try to use all natural ingredients in the recipes. She went back to grandma style cooking and this has helped with her allergies. In the introduction, she mentioned that going back to the way her grandmother cooked before preservatives has really helped her and she wanted to write a cookbook that would help others in similar situations.

I tried one of the recipes and it turned out ok. There are only about five in the book that interested me enough to try. But that may be because it leans so much in the direction of desserts and I don't eat a lot of sugar.

My main complaint with this book is the numerous typos and grammar issues. I was able to ignore them for the most part until I came to the Strawberry Milkshake. It literally looked like someone had shaken the milkshake a bit too much and it ended up all over the book.  Every couple of pages the word strawberry appears in the oddest places, offsetting the type and messing up the recipes. It's very distracting. It happens again with another recipe later on in the book. This book needs an editor in the worst way.

I received this book free of charge from Dorrance Publishing Company in exchange for my honest review.

All I See Are Stripes

All I See Are Stripes

Teresa White

This book is a children's book from Dorrance Publishing Co. that talks about a little horse. He becomes friends with a horse that is very different from him and he's confused.

I enjoyed this book right along with my son, who is five. It's a cute little story, but the theme that runs through it is great, especially since my son started school this year. It deals with the issue of meeting someone who is very different from you. And it's okay to be different and to have friends who are different.

I liked the discussion questions in the back as well. It spawned some great conversations.

I received this book free of charge in exchange for my honest review.

I Can Choose

I Can Choose

Ann Elizabeth Higgins

I chose this book by Dorrance Publishing Company so I could read it to my son who is turning five in a few weeks.

When we finished I asked him what he thought and he said he liked it. 

I, on the other hand, thought it was very simplistic and boring. It covered the same thing over and over again with a slightly different scenario. It certainly isn't a book I would have purchased.

My son looked at it once more by himself and then asked me if he could color the book because he thought the pictures were boring. He hasn't wanted me to read it to him since.

My overall opinion is that the book needs more life and character. Children are easily distracted and won't enjoy the book, like my son, after the first time. Since parents re-read books all the time it needs color or a better story presentation for it to appeal to children.

I received this book free of charge in exchange for my honest opinion.

A Fireman's Dream

A Fireman's Dream

by Everett A. Zarzychi

I chose this book from Dorrance Publishing because the story plot sounded good. I'm a fan of romance and always enjoy a well written love story.

The story is of a fireman who buys a raffle ticket for charity and ends up winning the date with a super model.

They fall in love and this book is their love story.

I hate to write bad reviews. There is always some good in a book to pull from. But I don't think I've ever read a book that was written so poorly. It is full of grammar and spelling errors which bothers me. But the main reason for my dislike was that the story lacked feeling. It was stilted and boring. The writer details every second of their lives. He mentions what the main characters do and eat every morning even though it appears to be the same routine every day. Each day is spelled out for you. The story leaves nothing for the reader to imagine. Here is a sample -

Soon after, Laura got the phone book from the drawer and turned to the page with Wendy's phone number. She picked up the phone and dialed. The phone rang. Mike answered the phone. Laura said    "Hello."

Mike said   "Hello."

Laura told him that it was his Aunt Laura, and she wanted to speak to him and his mommy. Mike told her to hold on and went to get his mother. He yelled to his mother that his Aunt Laura was on the phone. Wendy picked up the phone and greeted Laura. Then she asked her what was up. Laura asked Wendy how she was. . .

I do not need to know every detail and action that occurs. Couldn't the author have mentioned that Laura called Wendy and asked her to be her bridesmaid and left it at that? Do we really need to know every single drink a group of four orders at a restaurant? Is it necessary to tell us that the waitress put each plate of food in front of the person who ordered it? It was truly painful to read.

I had to laugh several times throughout the book because the characters didn't seem true to real life. Do men "scream" in excitement over love, gossip about their love life like women do, or lay in bed thinking of their feelings of love and hopes of marriage after the first date? 

It just didn't seem like the characters had "character".

The story line is a good one. But the author needs to put feeling and depth into his characters, add some drama to the story and put in relevant details. Once the story has some substance to it - send it to an editor before it ever sees a publisher.

I received this book free of charge in exchange for my honest review.

Forty Years of Love

Forty Years of Love

by Victor W. Brown

and Linda A. Dumphey

This book is a reflection of the past forty years in a vet assistant's life. He starts each chapter with a current event (someone walking by, the cat jumping into his lap, etc.) that reminds him of something that happened in the veterinary practice. Interesting book, but much thinner than I was expecting. It's only 26 pages long. While I enjoyed the stories it seemed a bit distracting to follow. It was like reading someone's thoughts as they drifted from current to past. But animal lovers will find this book published by Dorrance Publishing to be a quick, fun read.

I received this book for free in exchange for my honest review.