My Booky Wook | Russell Brand

“My life is just a series of embarrassing incidents strung together by telling people about those embarrassing incidents.”

Genre: Memoir —- Comedy

Number of Pages: 339

Perspective: First

Location: England

My Booky Wook is the memoir of actor/comedian, Russell Brand. It details his entire life from a messed-up childhood to making it as an actor to drugged up sexcapades. For a complete summary, you can go here.

I actually really liked reading this book at first. I thought Brand was funny and witty and his voice came through clearly. I could actually hear his (very distinctive) voice as I was reading it. He does warn you from the beginning that he speaks like a British person with no concern for proper grammar. And that is definitely the truth! It hurt my grammar-gut to read some of his lines.

Then there are the footnotes. Oh my God—the footnotes! I have no problem with a properly placed footnote—like in Modern Romance—but this was ridiculous! There were so many footnotes. Every single obscure pop culture reference required a detailed footnote. First of all, I’m a believer that there shouldn’t be that many pop culture references in a book. It dates the book really quickly and deters people from reading it in the future. Also, if the reference is not quickly identifiable and requires further explanation, then it probably does not need to be included in the book. The whole thing was just very distracting while reading.

By about halfway through, I stopped and came back to this book a few months later. I really had to force myself to finish it. It just got to be too long and boring. There were some hilarious stories thrown in there, but you had to sift through all the pop culture references (see above) and childhood stories. Honestly, I just didn’t care about most of what he was saying. He bounced around from story to story with little transition and the only good stories were ones where he was super high and doing something that probably should have gotten him killed or arrested. As far as memoirs go, this was rather unimpressive. I would much rather read I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell any day. At least that drunken asshole tells only his most interesting stories.

P.S. I just found out that there’s a sequel. Dun. Dun. Dun….

If you are interested in buying the book, you can buy it here. After you have read it, leave a comment and let me know what you think!

“Turns out it was mostly a lie. But, at least for a short while, it was a beautiful one.”

2/5 Stars

*****

o Amber Gregg o

El Deafo | Cece Bell

“And being different? That turned out to the best part of all. I found that with a little creativity, and a lot of dedication, any difference can be turned into something amazing. Our differences are our superpowers.”
Genre: Middle Grade Graphic Novel/Memoir. Number of Pages: 233. Perspective: First. Location: Virginia.
This graphic novel follows the author throughout her time as a young girl in the 1970s and her experiences losing her hearing from meningitis at the age of four. She learns how to make friends and accept herself. For a complete summary, you can go here.
This was a beautiful story about someone who copes with becoming deaf. I took an American Sign Language course in college and we talked a lot about the deaf culture; it was interesting to learn about some of the daily challenges that someone who is deaf faces. This book explains those challenges in a way that children can understand and relate to. We have come a long way with accessibility since the 70s, but we all could use …

5 Reasons Why I Hate Book Series

Many of you know that I hate book series. If at all possible, I try to stick to stand-alone novels. A few rare trilogies land on my bookshelf and an even rarer few get a good review. Here are my reasons why I hate trilogies:

1. The first book is perfected.

Authors have an unlimited amount of time to perfect the first book. They may have many rewrites and rejections before it is finally accepted by a publisher. By that point, the book should be pristine. The author may not have a deal with the publisher for a series yet, but once the first book proves its worth, the publisher will definitely ask for the rest of the series. Depending on the popularity, the author will be forced to get the next books out quickly—unless you are George R.R. Martin. There will be less time to perfect the story and it will be sent out without many rewrites, as to appease the fan-base. As a result, the rest of the series suffers in comparison to the debut.
2. The waiting is torture.

Part of the reason why the …

Hex | Thomas Olde Heuvelt

“Whoever is born here, is doomed to stay 'til death. Whoever settles, never leaves."
Genre: Horror. Number of Pages: 384. Perspective: Third. Location: New York.
Hex is the story of a town that is cursed by a witch with her eyes and mouth sewn shut. She shows up in houses and just stands and stares for days at a time. The people of the town can never leave and are plagued by the fear of what would happen if the witch’s eyes and mouth are ever opened. For a complete summary, you can go here.
This book started off kind of funny and light-hearted. The middle starts to get a little creepy and suspenseful, and the end is downright strange. It was an enjoyable book, but you’ll have to wait a long time for the climax. The bulk of the action happens in the last 50 pages. For me, that felt rushed and left me with more questions than answers.
Hex was originally written in Dutch and translated to English. With that in mind, I am utterly impressed with the flow and readability of the story. Th…

Ten Things Writers Need to Know

This is a guest post by Heather Weidner. I was asked recently what advice I would give to someone who wants to write. Here’s my list…
1. Read. Read. Read.

Read everything you can get your hands on. Learn about the genre. Learn about techniques and style. See what works and what doesn't.

2. Seek out writers like you.

Find a writers' group. I write mysteries, so Sisters in Crime was a perfect fit. I am also in the online community, Guppies. They have tons of resources and advice. And they are so supportive and helpful.
3. There are a lot of books out there on the craft of writing.
My favorite is Stephen King's On Writing. Invest in books that help you. But use your library too. FREE is good.

4. If you are serious about writing, find a critique group.
It's an investment in your time to read the submissions. Make sure that the feedback is helpful. Critiques need to be constructive and not personal. My critique group specializes in mysteries and crime fiction. And that works fo…

5 Things I Would Have Done Differently Before Self-Publishing

This is a guest post by Mark Benjamin.
About three-quarters into 2015, I decided to self-publish. My novel was stuck in that phase of completed / nearly done, and I had been agent shopping for three years prior, and the brief thought (if at all) of self-publishing had been pushed out of my mind by the traditional method. That is, until my wife, Lucy, sent me the Amazon Kindle Publishing link. At the end of May 2016, my debut novel, A CHANGE OF HEART, Book One of The Royal Blood Chronicles, was released, an urban fantasy novel bringing back vampires from whence I first found them, cue in Lestat and Louis. There was a lot to learn throughout the entire self-publishing process; emotions ranging from doubt to hope, anxiety to determination, fear to belief. I would like to share my experiences, then and now, and how I would have done things differently.

1. Just Do It
Those three words are the beginning and end of it all. The story hit me and I ran with it. I could have waited until I thought …

Judging More Than Just The Cover

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