Granta-Horror

The biggest problem with this book is that it lacked a lot of the basic horror elements.  Most of the stories were existential and morose.  Even the Stephen King story was more of a sad story than that of horror.

I recommend this book for one story called "The Infamous Bengal Ming".  This story struck a chord with me because of the creative use of first person perspective as a tiger.

I rate this book at a 2 out of 5.

Thirteen

            I felt like a fifteen year old girl reading this book, but I couldn't put it down.  I have to say, that the suspense level of this book was high and it had just enough horror elements to fit in the genre.  There were ghost stories, serial killer stories, and probably way more that I cant recall right off hand.  This was a fun book to read.
            I recommend this book to the young adult crowd but also to the adult crowd because the book had great suspense.  I give this book a solid 4.5 out of 5.

"Writing Horror: A Handbook by the Horror Writers Association" Book Review

             "Writing Horror" is a book that should be on every horror writers book shelf.  It covered dialog, horror style, and the importance of reading horror.  Reading horror is probably the most important for the writer to stay fresh and creative.  Every chapter is written by a different author that provides differing perspectives on each topic.

              I recommend this book to amateur or intermediate writers.  For a beginning writer it might be a bit much, and for the professional, a good reminder of core elements.  I give this book a 4.5 out of 5 because it does a good job refreshing the elements of horror writing.

Copyright 2018

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Stephen King On Writing Book Review

         This was a terrific book that tells the story of King growing up, how he found success, and offers some grammatical tricks of the trade.  I enjoyed the parts of the book that talked about how King became a successful writer.  It offers hope to those of us trying to get our work out there.
        King, from an early age showed interest in writing.  By the time he was a teenager he was published in a popular mystery magazine at the time.  His first novel "Carrie" was typed in a laundry closet on an old typewriter.
        King also struggled with substance abuse while he was writing "Carrie", and he openly talks about it in the book.  King quotes, "For six years I sat behind that desk either drunk or wrecked out of my mind....". King was lucky he had support to end his addictions and continue writing for a living.
          I recommend this book to anyone looking for inspiration and/or practical writing advice.  The book is an easy read, it only took me three days to read it.  I give this book a 4.8 out of 5 because it is so interesting and very insightful.

They Laughed At Galileo By Albert Jack Book Review

I shamefully admit to falling asleep while reading this book and dropping it in the floor.  The book isn't boring, its all the factoids that bog the mind down. This book did a good job in expressing "the never give up" mantra through the narrative stories behind the many different products. I found it inspiring how many inventors worked tirelessly on their invention and it may have taken a while but in the end they succeeded.  

I rate this book at 3.5 out of 5 because it did become tiresome reading it.  I do recommend the book to anyone needing an uplifting book about not giving up on your dreams.

Copyright 2018

"The Incense Bible" by Kerry Hughes, MSc, Book Review

         

                The gentle waft of smoke, sweet and soft billowing from a incense burner becomes more intimate with reading "The Incense Bible" by Kerry Hughes published 2007. I have personally always used incense, but never considered all the synthetic chemicals that create the scent.  This book opened me up to new world of "natural incense", derived from resins, wood, and flowers.  "The Incense Bible" provides a thorough history of incense that begins with the ancient Egyptians to modern day native american medicine men performing sweat lodge ceremonies.
           The book has color images that help with visualization of the natural products.  The first half of the book discusses the history of incense and the second half covers the ingredients that are used in natural incense.  "The Incense Bible" was a well written and extremely interesting read. I would recommend the book to anyone who desires in-depth information on natural incense.  I rate the book at a 4.5 out of 5 because the book was so interesting and thorough.

"Coding for Beginners" by Mike McGrath Book Review

        I originally checked this book out at my local library before I made a purchase.  While checked out, I found it easy to read, comprehend, and most importantly the code actually worked.  The lines of code in the book are highlighted as they are in your IDE.  I was truly impressed that each and every example coding project worked.

       This book is by Mike McGrath and was published in 2017, so it is close to being up to date.  The book focuses on the Python language and covers topics ranging from performing operations to developing apps. This book was easy to understand, and the code snippets were not to long and got the point across.  I recommend this book for a complete beginner that has little to no experience programming with python. I give the book 4 out of 5 because it reads quickly but it can be slowed down.

"The Art Of Invisibility" by Kevin Mitnick Book Review

       Whether it's a hacker, the feds, or even a 5 star hotel maid, your data and identity is out there for them to take. "The Art Of Invisibility" by Kevin Mitnick is a comprehensive guide to leaving a zero digital fingerprint.  Mitnick covers different methodologies employed in preserving your online anonymity. He sets up a step by step plan on how you can purchase gift cards then convert them to bit coins, and then buy a mobile hotspot.

        I would recommend this book to anyone who is dealing with hackers, third parties, or even the government trying to identify you and locate you.  The book is well written and provides good direction on how to literally become invisible.  I rate the book at 4.5 out of 5 simply because it was such a thorough book.  

"The Sentient Machine" By Amir Husain Book Review

      "The Sentient Machine" by Amir Husain, covers the many ways that artificial intelligence(A.I.) is envisioned in the future. A.I.  will influence our lives in areas such as health care, financial markets, and warfare, just to name a few. The author does a good job holding the audiences attention when discussing the possibilities of A.I.  However, the author does not mention A.I. in terms of sentience.
        Husain offers plenty of examples of how A.I. will help humanity, but is lacking in describing how truly sentient A.I. will rise and sustain itself.  A.I. is treated moreover like simple input - output devices, where we as humans program an A. I. to perform a set of tasks through algorithms. 
        Overall I give the book a rating of 3.7 out of 5 simply because the scope of the book is limited to a general static view of A.I.  I recommend this book to someone that is interested in robots that are given a command and proceed with the task under the guise of A.I.

"Ten Things I Learned From Bill Porter" By Shelly Brady book review

        I was browsing the book section at one of the many local thrift shops I frequent, and found a book titled "Ten Things I Learned from Bill Porter" by Shelly Brady.  For some reason I was drawn to the book, like a moth to a glowing candle.  I paid $2.50 for the book, which I thought was a bit overpriced for the book being in a thrift shop. When I got home, I immediately began to read, and found it to have a compelling introduction that really sparked interest.  Needless to say I had gotten lucky and found a great read.

      "Ten Things I Learned from Bill Porter" is an inspirational biography that talks about the door to door salesman life of Mr. Porter and how he copes with cerebral palsy. The author does a good job presenting the challenges and odds stacked against Mr. Porter and how he overcomes each one. Overall the book is interesting and inspiring and I recommend it to anyone looking for motivation or a "feel good" kind of book. I rate this book at 4 out of 5.