Nonfiction Short Review Extravaganza #2: Home Repair, Computer Software, Cookbooks, Personal Finance

 Nonfiction Short Review Extravaganza #2: Home Repair, Computer Software, Cookbooks, Personal Finance 

By Julie Sara Porter 

Bookworm Reviews 

This is the second part of my current project of writing short reviews for various publishers and groups. The pay isn't much separately but together it's better than the nothing that I mostly make.

The Complete HVAC Bible for Beginners by Bryan Allen Lawson 

For Read & Review 

The Complete HVAC Bible for Beginners is a handy guide for identifying, installing and repairing an HVAC system.

The book is a simple step by step process that explains the essential components of the HVAC system like the condenser and air filters. It also tells what they do individually and how they contribute to the whole system.

The highlights of the book involve the installation and repair process. For example, it discusses the key differences and challenges in installing the system and the post-installation checklist to determine whether the system works or needs improvement. 

There is also a section for common problems. It identifies what to inspect and work on when the air flow is weak or insufficient. It also says what to test and replace when the compressor won't start.

The Complete HVAC Bible for Beginners is helpful if someone wishes to DIY their HVAC system. They know what to install and how to repair it.

Microsoft Office 365 Bible by Zen Tasker Publishing 

For Rick Sterling

Microsoft Office 365 Bible is a fascinating guide to the various programs that the cloud-based productivity suite and how they help users complete tasks and organize files.

The book breaks down each platform, what they do, and how they enhance one's files and workspace. Chapters include Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Access, Outlook, Skype, Teams, OneDrive, Forms, OneNote, and Publisher. 

Each chapter takes users step by step through the platforms, their functions, and benefits. For example Word’s chapter describes the initial interface and features like the ribbon and status bar. It also offers suggestions for text formatting and document visualization. There are also extra touches like graphs, tables, visuals, and tables of contents. 

Microsoft Office 365 Bible is a simple guide for using MS Office and making the most of this productivity suite.

The Ninja Slushi Cookbook for Beginners by Makilunape Kokiyuope 

For Michael Cheng

If  you are looking for an icy treat especially in the summer, you might want to create one of the recipes in The Ninja Slushi Cookbook for Beginners.

The introduction talks about the treat's versatility as being useful year round focusing on different recipes, some with a creamy blend just like icy chill. It also emphasizes creativity as culinary experimentation is explored.

Recipes and meals include Dreamy Blue Raspberry Fruit Punch Slushi for Fruit Slushi Recipes, Fresh Ginger Ale Soda Slushi for Soda-Based Slushi Recipes, Fruity Run Spiked Slushi for Spiked Slushi Recipes, Easy Matcha Latte Frappe as Frappe Recipes, Quick Cherry Frozen Juice Slushi for Frozen Juice Slushi Recipes, Special Blueberry Iced Tea Slushi for Tea-Based Slushi Recipes, Lime-Infused Daiquiri Spiked Slushi for Sugar-Free Slushi Recipes, and Sweet Vanilla Cream Milkshake for Milkshake Recipes.

The Ninja Slushi Cookbook for Beginners will lead Readers to some tasty smooth icy delicious treats.

Dr. Now's 1200-Calorie Diet Plan by Ian S. Garrett 

For Michael Cheng 

Dr. Nowzardan’s Weight Loss Formula has been discussed, praised, debated, and practiced. This book is an example of the diet. It specializes in nutrient-dense foods with essential vitamins, minerals, and macronutrients. 

The introduction focuses on maintaining a positive mindset and creating a supportive environment. These attributes along with routine and preparation and maintaining flexibility and balance help people stay focused on dieting.

The meals and recipes include Whole Wheat Toast with Avocado and Tomato for Breakfasts, Chicken Fajitas with Bell Peppers and Whole Wheat Tortillas for Main Dishes, Nutty Quinoa Pilaf with Vegetables for Side Dishes, Creamy Smoothie Blended with Blueberries and Protein Powder for Snacks, and Decadent Coconut Macaroons with Dark Chocolate Drizzle for Desserts.

Dr. Now's 1200 Calorie Diet Plan will provide Readers with a goal and step by step process on how they can diet their way to good health.

Smart Money for Kids by Dreamdrift Publishing 

For Paid Readers Club 

Many kids and adults need help with how to manage their money. This book provides that much needed assistance. 

The book walks Readers through the process of earning and saving money. While kids are limited on ways to earn money, they can find chores or services. Kids are also encouraged to create a saving plan for a goal, say an expensive gift and to put money into that goal instead of spending recklessly.

Saving and spending are important themes in this book. A budget helps kids control, divide, and manage their money. Chapters are also devoted to discerning the difference between needs and wants and whether it's appropriate to spend money and how much.

While kids hopefully won't have issues with debt or bad credit, the book still provides information for what they are and how they can be avoided. You are never too young to learn not to pay for something that you can't afford and may have trouble paying back later and to be careful when using credit for emergencies only.

The Smart Money Guide for Kids is an important tool that teaches about a subject that many need to learn about no matter their age. 

Dr. Fixit's Malicious Machine The Legend of Guts and Glory Freedom Fighters of Nil by Jessica Crichton; Crichton’s Science Fiction Children’s Book Has Plenty of Guts and Glory

 Dr. Fixit's Malicious Machine The Legend of Guts and Glory Freedom Fighters of Nil by Jessica Crichton; Crichton’s Science Fiction Children’s Book Has Plenty of Guts and Glory 

By Julie Sara Porter 

Bookworm Reviews 

Spoilers: One of the things that I love about working on this blog is becoming acquainted with new, to me anyway, authors by reading multiple books written by them. It is a great journey to discover their entire body of work to see their imaginative literary worlds, to recognize tropes and themes that carry over from book to book, and associate them with a specific genre or style. My latest literary acquaintance is Children’s and YA author, Jessica Crichton.

Crichton’s book, Dr. Fixit’s Malicious Machine: The Legend of Guts and Glory Freedom Fighters of Nil is a brilliant Dystopian/Parallel Universe Science Fiction which gives Readers a fantastic setting, interesting characters that inhabit it, and some very powerful themes about family and what it actually means to grow up. 

Twins, Trevor and Tabitha Tate AKA Guts and Glory respectively find their scientist mother’s lab ransacked and learn that she has been abducted by a weird tentacled creature. They are invited by a mysterious person, Dr. Fixit, who says that their mother is in his world of Nil and they have to be put through a series of tests to find her and prove themselves worthy. The twins and their older sister, Emily, follow a portal to Nil which is revealed to be a dismal place overrun by giant bugs and juvenile gangs. Emily is kidnapped by the Teens, one of the gangs, and is held captive in their fortress Igh Schoo. The twins are found by a local kid named Books who takes the duo straight to the DarkCrows, a gang of kids under 12 who are sworn enemies of the Teens. The Crows think that Trevor and Tabitha resemble Guts and Glory, two legendary figures who have sworn to return to help their people. The Tate Twins find themselves in the middle of a gang war and a world where things aren’t always what they seem.

Crichton excels at subverting expectations and creating a Children’s Novel that isn’t afraid to get dark when it needs to. Many Children’s books series don’t start out completely dark. They introduce Readers to the new world by making it a fun place rich with details that makes one want to visit, saving the major conflicts for subsequent books. Crichton’’s book is different. It starts dark and looks to stay that way. 

For example Nil is a world with few adults, but it is not exactly Peter Pan’s NeverLand. It’s more like a nation wide version of Lord of the Flies. What we see of Nil is a dismal place with destroyed buildings, rampant lawlessness, complete chaos and destruction, and young people running around with no structure or understanding.

With no rules, no structures, gangs of children and teenagers are free to do whatever they want including hurting, abusing, or killing. After all, empathy and understanding are traits that are often taught by example and learning. Without those traits trained into them during their toddler years, they resort to selfish basest instincts. This is what is on display. 

These are children and teenagers who only live for themselves and have only the faintest idea of what deeper emotions like love really are. Family still exists because there are siblings but once a sibling becomes a Teen, that link is destroyed. Friendships are earned and just as easily broken within the gangs. The stress of this world even temporarily breaks Tabitha and Trevor apart. Nil is a nightmare world that many Readers probably would not want to visit unless they were really brave or really foolhardy.

Crichton also has fun playing with various tropes that are common in Children’s Literature by giving us reasons why they exist. As previously mentioned, there is a prophecy regarding Guts and Glory but we learn that the prophecy was made in a surprisingly mundane way. It is not an ancient myth passed down from a loving deity so much as a record accidentally left behind when the writer had to leave in a big hurry. The implication seems to be that these kids were so desperate for a hero or something beyond themselves that they latched onto anything that they could find that encouraged them to look forward to a better day. 

There are some fun and interesting bits that add to Crichton’s excellent writing style. Names are particularly fun. Of course there are Tabitha and Trevor, the aforementioned Guts and Glory. There are also characters that are rich with names like Fist, Shark, Books, Roach, Turtle, and Gadget. These names give you some idea of the characters’ personalities and interests. Of course that the names are chosen not by parents but by other kids adds to the effect. Like in another life, these names could have been used as insults or means of bullying but now they are the only ways that they can identify themselves.

Some names are a bit on the nose. Nil means nothing and that gives some idea of what this world is really like. The biggest laugh is the Teen’s hideout, Igh Schoo  and how long it takes Trevor to figure out what it means. It’s obvious and clever in its own way. 

Above all this is a strong book about love and loyalty. The gang members feign loyalty but are willing to turn on each other at a moment’s notice. Some characters trust others too readily only to find betrayal. In one heartbreaking moment, the Tate Siblings’ bond with other family members are called into question, creating hurt, pain, and ties that may end up being forever broken. However, Tabitha and Trevor’s familial bond is strengthened by this adventure showing that they do have the courage, love, leadership, and perseverance to become the Guts and Glory of legends. 

It takes a lot of Guts to write a book with familiar tropes and do something unique with them. Crichton has them and the results are very Glorious. 

Lit List: Escape From Mariupol A Survivor's True Story by Adoriana Marik As Told To Anna K. Howard; Humans Without Borders by Madhava Kumar Turumella, and Anna and Reggie Rapasaurus by William F. Harris and Stacey Roberts, Illustrated by Poormina Madhushani

 Lit List: Escape From Mariupol A Survivor's True Story by Adoriana Marik As Told To Anna K. Howard; Humans Without Borders by Madhava Kumar Turumella, and Anna and Reggie Rapasaurus by William F. Harris and Stacey Roberts, Illustrated by Poormina Madhushani

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews

Escape From Mariupol: A Survivor's True Story by Adoriana Marik As Told To Anna K. Howard

A longer and more detailed version of this review is on LitPick Reviews.

Adoriana Marik is a tattoo artist and merchandiser who lived in Mariupol during the Russian-Ukrainian War. Escape From Mariupol recounts her personal experience living from the invasion, to her attempts at surviving in a violent world, and her eventual escape to the Czech Republic and the United States.

Marik’s book is a detailed, moving, suspenseful, and graphic account of the reality of living in a country torn apart by war. Her descriptions such as walking zombie-like and numb through a devastated almost apocalyptic city is a true moment of heartbreak.

These moments evocatively capture the angst of the average citizen when they are caught unaware in a situation that shatters the world around them.

There are also passages where Marik conveyed the desperation and sacrifice of surviving in a violent world and the resilience to help others in the same situation. For example,Marik took her dog, Yola, to every location and made sure wherever she went, her fur baby came with. Marik kept hold of her pet out of unconditional love and to care for someone during those dark days. Marik even cited Yola as a motivation for her to stay alive and keep going during the war.

Marik's survival instincts continued as she sought refuge in the Czech Republic and United States. She moved from place to place taking pleasure in the few little things that she could, a drink of fresh water, some biscuits, a friendly face, a warm bed, and of course Yola’s loyal presence.

Escape from Mariupol, reveals Marik as a complex woman of great strength, spirit, and courage to survive, leave a world torn apart by war, and then to recount her experience with her own words.

Humans Without Borders by Madhava Kumar Turumella

Madhava Kumar Turumella’s Humans Without Borders is an idealistic and hopeful plea for everyone to reach beyond borders and personal identification and to help others on a global, selfless, altruistic scale. To help other people because they are human beings and part of a wide global community instead of thinking of someone as being from another country, race, religion, sexuality, or identity.

Turumella reveals many of the mindset traps that people fall into like exploitation and cognitive dissonance when they categorize, place, and then use others for their own gain. They think of people as “the Other” and create tighter restrictions against them, deny them refuge, and treat them horribly once they arrive. When those mindsets are displayed, dehumanization inevitably follows and it becomes easier to threaten, attack, commit violence, isolate, and eventually kill someone else. Turumella illustrates how easy it is to fall into those mindsets, especially ignorance and cognitive dissonance based on our own limited personal experiences and assumptions. No one is immune from thinking this way but it is important to recognize and make active efforts to change that mindset, think about others, and reach out to help them.

While borders can never truly be erased and it is important to recognize one's home country, Turumella instead offers a way for Readers to minimize the importance of those borders and for governments to be more open and accepting in offering aid, resources, security, and sanctuary to other countries. The European and African Union are examples that while flawed (Turumella cites Brexit and the problems preceding it as one example), still feature countries making consistent and meaningful efforts of working together to create positive change not for one country, but for all of them.

There is one formatting issue that I must address. The chapters are numbered differently than they are in the Table of Contents. It can make for difficult reading especially if the Reader reads the book in E-book format and uses the links to lead them to the chapter. However, this flaw does not deter the book from its central themes.

Turumella insists that this book is not a call for revolution. It is not an altogether new or novel idea either. Instead it is a call for unity, understanding, empathy, and kindness. It is a reminder that while we may have our differences, we are all human.

Anna and Reggie Rapasaurus by William F Harris and Stacey Roberts, Illustrated by Poormina Madhushani

William F. Harris, Stacey Roberts, and Poormina Madhushani worked together to create a bright, vibrant, entertaining children's picture book about friendship and the importance of reading and learning.

Anna, a human girl, loves hanging out with her best friend, a dinosaur named Reggie Rapasaurus. One of their favorite things to do is going to the library and read books together. The book explores all of the imaginative adventures the two take as they read.

This is an engaging story that encourages a love of reading in its young Readers. The two imagine themselves in faraway places like the desert and explore and learn new things about the stars through the power of books.

Reading encourages bonding and communication and the book skillfully explores that through its own words. There is a rhythmic quality to the words almost like a rap number. Some of the pages like “You are a good reader like Anna and Reggie. Reading opens your eyes, so clap your hands, make a wish! Clap your hands, make a wish!” encourages participation and interaction.

The illustrations are bright and vibrant. They reflect Anna and Reggie’s daily routine at the library and the more fanciful trips through their imagination. Reading is exciting when people can imagine the worlds envisioned through the words on the page.Madhushani shows that transition between reality and imagination beautifully.

Through the engaging words and bright illustrations, Harris, Roberts, and Madhushani (as well as Anna and Reggie) reveal the book’s theme, “United we read, together we grow.”

Lit List Short Review: ABC Animals by T.L. Anderson; Everybody Poops by Justine Avery and Olga Zhuravlova; I Don't Want to Turn 3 by Gramps Jeffrey

 Lit Lists Short Reviews: ABC Animals by T.L. Anderson; Everybody Poops by Justine Avery and Olga Zhuravlova;  I Don't Want To Turn 3 by Gramps Jefferey

By Julie Sara Porter

ABC Animals by T.L. Anderson

ABC Animals by T.L. Anderson is a simple brightly colored fun book for children ages 2-6 to learn not only their alphabet but about different animals.

The illustrations are eye-catching with adorable animals with friendly expressions on their faces. It's hard not to smile when you see grinning dogs, dolphins, and deer. 

The text is easy. It only features the letters and the names of animals so children can read and understand the words. The pages just say things like "H Horse Hamster Hippopotamus."

 Anderson also chooses unusual animals to fit the letters, possibly to invite conversations between children and their parents. A child might wonder what an impala, an ibex, or a jerboa are and their parents could look it up or answer. The various animals could provide interactive conversation over the animals themselves.

ABC Animals is a bright fun and educational book that will teach children their letters and about the creatures with whom they share this world.

Everybody Poops by Justine Avery and Olga Zhuravlova

Kids like to laugh about disgusting things so they will certainly have fun with this book. It is funny and brings open something that people don't always like to talk about.

The book is repetitive reminding young Readers that everybody poops, children, adults, animals, even superheroes. It would be nice to explain why pooping is so important to the body for waste removal. But it is simple for children to read.

The illustrations are humorous showing characters in discomfort and then relieving themselves. Of course with a subject like this, they are bound to funny and they are hilarious.

Everybody Poops is a funny book that explains something perfectly natural and does it in a fun way. 

I Don't Want to Turn 3 by Gramps Jeffrey

One can imagine this book originated from a conversation between author, Gramps Jeffrey and his children or grandchildren.

I Don't Want to Turn 3 is about Jordan who isn't excited about his upcoming third birthday. He is used to being treated like a baby and adults letting him have his way because he is so young. When he turns three, he will have to learn about rules, sharing, and responsibility. The more Jordan thinks about it, the more he is looking forward to his upcoming birthday and growing older.

This is a simple story which teaches kids social skills, getting along with others, and the advantages and disadvantages to growing up and growing older. It is written from a child's point of view with an awareness that kids can be selfish and bratty at times but are also capable of learning and understanding.

The illustrations are charming in a cartoonish way. Jordan is always at the center because kids often want to be the center of attention. He is often surrounded by toys and other people struggling with what he wants and what he has to do.

Kids will find I Don't Want to Turn 3 completely relatable and parents will be able to recognize the world from their child's point of view.