Vinyl Record Talk Blog

Book Review - Poem For Children: "Why Was Mary Scary?" by Dan Laufer

2013-05-22T04:47:00.002-07:00

A poem about overcoming fear and being true to yourself

Sweet (oh the pun) medium length poem about trying to get to the gnome who gives out chocolate to any child brave enough to go through the dark cloud on the way up. My daughter loved the poem, and how Mary went to each animal for help, and the animals were true to their form in the help they offered. So will Mary brave the hill in the end?

I'm not going to give it away. I'll just say this is an honest and well written poem with some decent art. Well worth a buck and a bedtime read.

LINK: Book Review of Why Was Mary Scary by Dan Laufer

Book Review - 60 Ways To Make Money Fast by Jill Golden

2013-05-19T03:19:00.001-07:00

Need cash today, get this book

No BS. This is one of those rare money-making books that has realistic ideas. Most books like this cover areas that promise big riches like MLM, or affiliate marketing. But this book covers places where you can quickly and immediately bring in small amounts of money fast. If you need money this week and you're out of ideas, this is the book to get.

LINK: 60 Ways To Make Money Fast by Jill Golden

Book Review of Expiration Dating by G. T. Marie

2013-05-18T17:15:00.002-07:00

Entertaining and funny novel

One of the best characteristics of American writing is it's detached humor, especially when aimed at an young American's experience in Europe. G. T. Marie has written a funny novel about the experiences of young woman going to school in Italy and finding as much out about life, dating and people as she can.

Similar in style to Sophie Kinsella, the novel has great characters in Dana, her teacher who barely speaks English, and the model who is starting a shoe line. It combines for a very funny story about exceptions and reality on a romantic adventure.

LINK: Expiration Dating by G. T. Marie

Book Review - The Hitwoman Gets Lucky (Confessions of a Slightly Neurotic Hitwoman) by JB Lynn

2013-05-15T19:06:00.000-07:00

Wonderfully funny and ironic

Well you think you got problems. This very very funny novel puts a spin on killing for the ones you love. Maggie is a totally nuts woman who hates her day job and has a night one as a hit woman, and she talks to her pet lizard now that she has hit her head in an accident.

This book is hysterical and her friend weird friend Armani is great. In contrast everyone has a stronger personality than the killer. This book is a great mix of humor, characters and plot and very well written. Get it while's it free but it's sell worth more than the usual Kindle buck or two.

LINK: The Hitwoman Gets Lucky (Confessions of a Slightly Neurotic Hitwoman) by JB Lynn

Book Review - Shades of Terror by Larry A. Levitan

2013-05-14T22:10:00.000-07:00

Wow! This is the political thriller to read this month

This novel is a superior political thriller. Agent John Kramer is a character torn apart personally by 9/11, and yet he maintains a moral code about what kind of line-in-the-sand to draw in regards to how he treats terrorist suspects and operatives. In a counter terrorism campaign he hooks up with Mossad agents who, on the other hand, seem like something out of the Transporter series of movies. Kill early, kill often.

There is an intense scene a little more than halfway through the book where Agent Kramer is with the Mossad agents and they have captured several operatives, including low-level support operatives . . . merciless. And Kramer moves a little further in a transformation of morals, ideals and codes.

This is one of the most realistic novels I've read on the internal struggles of being someone dealing with stopping terrorism, with lots of stuff at your disposal to stop it with, and just what that does to the mind, and the ambiguity of morals and values it causes.

In my usual evaluation of whether the Kindle version is worth more than a buck, asking the following questions 1) Did I struggle with language and syntax? 2) Were the characters someone I'd meet on the street or a cardboard stand I'd run into at the grocery store? 3) Did I feel I had a better grasp of the plot than the writer? 4) Would I have rather bought a candy-bar across the street at 7-11?

This one shines on 1-4, running on all cylinders. It's fully worth $6.99, and I'd pass up a bottle of Zachary Boone for it too.

LINK: Shades of Terror by Larry A. Levitan

Book Review - Beautifully Absurd by Robert Ashley M.D.

2013-05-02T02:37:00.004-07:00

Puts its story above it's lessons, but the points still hit home

Even though this book is supposed to prod people into preparing for end of life scare, or at least educating them on the issue. Didactic elements aside, this is a good story. Yes, it makes its points about ending up in a situation where you cannot a) communicate your wishes, and b) want to connect with a family member but not sure how that will effect your care because you've been estranged from that person (in this case the protagonist's son) and the family member may be put in a position of making decisions for you. It's a problem that could occur a thousand ways.

The doctor who wrote this book tells a complex character story about guy named Paul and the events in his life that shaped him and his decisions. As a story, aside from its theme, it's a very good slice of life tale about the 1960s and 1970s with exploration of the usual themes of Vietnam, divorce, alienation from society and an aversion to responsibility. In other words, even if you have your end of life care stuff straight, read it if you want a good story.

LINK: Beautifully Absurd by Robert Ashley M.D.

Book Review - They Shall Take Up Serpents by Randall Marsh

2013-04-30T02:02:00.001-07:00

A novel that picked me up and set me down in some place I swear I'd been before

The mark of a good novel is that at the very beginning I get deja-vu. That's when I know I'm going to enjoy the rest of the book. I'm landed immediate some place new that I've never seen before. That's the case with "Serpents". I've stood many times looking down that dirt road and wonder to what community it leads.

That's how this novel begins, with a preacher walking down a road nobody else has noticed. I'm hooked the rest of the way through as the preacher convinces a community to let them "save" them. The story moves to the present day where the community remains isolated and one girl takes an interest in uncovering what has been happening there for more than a generation.

LINK: They Shall Take Up Serpents by Randall Marsh

Book Review - Millionomics: My Journey to Gaining Financial Freedom by Shiv Verma

2013-04-25T23:49:00.002-07:00

Everything you always wanted to know about accumulating wealth but were afraid to ask

I find it a pleasure to get books about money making that don't promise an easy, no-work, system of signing up to a program and just letting the cash come in. First, it never is easy. Second, I'm smarter than the twenty people who were fooled by the get-rich-quick proposition. The best kinds of money making books are the one's that don't leave you feeling like you need a shower after your read them.

Sometimes accumulating wealth is just a matter of a mundane, even boring on the surface, strategy of careful planning and frugality. That's what this book is. A very detailed system put forth by someone who put it to work. It's not as exciting as winning the lottery, but it's far more likely to work. And that day when you don't have to get up and work to pay your bills won't feel so boring. Whoever said money can't buy happiness . . . was absolutely full of it.

LINK: Millionomics: My Journey to Gaining Financial Freedom

Book Review - The Light by Robert Hammond

2013-04-25T20:40:00.001-07:00

An excellent exploration of spirituality in the 1970s

Los Angeles in the early 1970s was wild whichever angle one approached it from, political, drug, music, religious. The best thing about the book is that it captures the mood of the time and the place. That sets the stage for the characters, plot and theme of the book, which is about spiritual redemption from several points of view. A novelist that makes a world so rich you can smell gets to couch the message and the reader goes on the journey with the character. The Light is by no means preachy. It follows Abel who grows up the child of a successful black mother and father in an all white neighborhood in the early 1960s. Given what white American culture was at the time would anyone wish such a thing on any kid. Abel develops problems with drugs and crime, and he has run-ins with the law. He goes through many spiritual experiments all of which take for the excesses of the grafty type of spirituality readily available at the right price in the 1970s and early 80s. Abel finds his own way after much hardship and "The Light" in his sense is a combination of a variety of practices. So the novel is tailored to it's character. The writing has the raw style reminiscent of Jim Carroll.

LINK: The Light by Robert Hammond

Book Review - Mace of the Apocalypse by Daniel J Williams

2013-04-23T12:22:00.000-07:00

A zombie novel with several new takes on the theme

Sometimes the cure is worse than the disease. That's the theme of Mace of the Apocalypse. The zombies have a few variances from the norm, but it's the cure, or partial cure that's the twist here. The cure brings out side effects that make the survivor more sociopath but not to the level of flesh eating zombie. The effort becomes to perfect a cure that doesn't trade away too much humanity. Mace is a character who has to decide to do more than survive and protect survivors but help protect those who are trying to perfect the cure.

This made it a more interesting, or deeper than average zombie novel. Plus, that it's narrative was well written made it a more pleasurable read.

LINK: Mace of the Apocalypse

Book Review - No Bull SEO by William Masters

2013-04-22T19:55:00.002-07:00

With all the changes over the last few years with what works and what doesn't with SEO, it was good to find a new book that looks like it's sorted it out. The key here is to pay attention, but not too hard. The 00's are over and semantics are more a part of the algorithms. So as William Masters says in the book, Content Is King.

LINK: No Bull SEO

Book Review - Best Techniques To Let Go of Anger Permanently by Arthur Wallenberg

2013-04-22T19:47:00.002-07:00

The book starts out with some great quotes and then goes on to give very practical advice. It cover many medical, spiritual and dietary things you can do to focus on recognizing the signs of anger and diffuse an anger attack. The sections on quickly mitigating anger. The author describes his own experiences with many of the technique and how they worked for helping him learn how to manage anger.

LINK: Best Techniques To Let Go Of Anger Permanently

Book Review - Almost Free Money: How to Make Significant Money on Free Items . . .

2013-04-20T14:22:00.001-07:00

Buy this book if you are willing to work a little for your money

So many books give this impression that there is a way to make money with no effort. I guess it's the times we live in. People want hope and there are people willing to write anything to offer that hope.

That's not what this book is.

Eric Michael writes a book from a determined and experienced perspective. He has spent over a decade selling a wide variety of items on eBay, Amazon, other sites, locally. As someone who has focused on several single products, I always wondered how it was done in a more general way effectively.

If you wonder the same thing get this book. It's all about efficiency, and you get over a decade of experience from someone who knows exactly what to do with the next thing he finds around the corner.

LINK: Almost Free Money by Eric Michael

Rare 45 RPM - Rockabilly - Sweatpea Johnson - The Crawdad Scene

2013-04-20T13:16:00.002-07:00

Billy Strange as Sweatpea Johnson on this Rockabilly 45

Vinyl Record Art

2013-04-20T12:24:00.000-07:00

Installation by Lobyn Hamilton.

Usually I have something smarmy to say. But . . . well . . . wow!

45 RPM Instrumental - Onions - True Love

2013-04-19T14:26:00.001-07:00

An unknown mellow instrumental from a band who likely chose their name realizing they'd never record another 45 rpm record again. Does anyone know who played on this records? Does anyone who did play on it remember playing on it? Who knows, who cares? The song makes me feel like it's 1965 and I'm walking down Main St to the lunch counter at the local pharmacy to order a cherry milkshake with a shot of codeine.

Vinyl Record Art - Found On The Elevator 205 W. 57- (excerpt) 1969

2013-04-13T11:31:00.001-07:00

Guy walks into an elevator in 1969 and finds a record from the future, the year 2058, a message recorded by a cyborg with bad circuitry. The record was 8 1/2" in diameter and played at 20rpm. My question from 2013 is what kind of bifurcated simultaneous decay and evolution must we portend to in order to located this future sphere, where we leave our bodies for a technological metascape but continue to press vinyl records in the physical duosphere, shed our memories of iPhone and Facebook, and all talk in the drivel in a late 1960s underground newspaper?

I'd rather just watch girls kissing.

Book Review - Legends Lost: Galdin by Nova Rose

2013-04-11T00:16:00.000-07:00

Excellent end to a very adept series

Nova Rose has created a solid trilogy of which this is her last book. She writes excellent action and battle scenes that can be easily followed by young readers. In Galdin she has created my two favorite of all her characters - Galdin and Nylana. They play off each other in a tense but fun way in their adventure, and in the end must escape from Lord Stefon. I'm teetering on giving too much away here.

Nova Rose (aka Janet McNulty) has created one of the treasures of the Kindle age - though the idea for the series occurred to her long before the Kindle. So may the Kindle was made for this series :)

Anyway, if you want to find a good writer that you probably wouldn't have found if not for ebooks, this is one trilogy for you.

LINK: Legends Lost: Galdin by Nova Rose

Vinyl Record Art - Jack White Does The Amazingly Fucking Cool Again

2013-04-10T23:08:00.001-07:00

Found on TrendHunter, a history lesson and a play on the contemporary paranoia meme from the genius of Jack White. This Third Man release has been created using old X-RAY film. The process comes from Stalin's Soviet Union during a period when Uncle Joe decided he didn't like records. The process to etch music onto old X-RAYS was developed and used by Soviet underground musicians after World War II.

Check Out - Authors Showcase On Authorsbroadcast.com

2013-04-10T00:31:00.003-07:00

This is company that does their own promotion, and author promotion just right.

Author Showcase is a YouTube based series produced by Authorsbroadcast.com. Each episode features author interviews and recent book trailers of upcoming fiction, non-fiction and children's books.

Authorsbroadcast.com is a production company creating book trailers for authors. Book trailers are becoming a popular medium for book promotion. Their trailers are very high quality and their Author Showcase show promotes authors and the companies production values. It's a really good high quality show. This is their latest episode.

LINK: authorsbroadcast.com

Book Review - Bedtime Stories: Sweet Dream (Healthy children's books collection) by Inbar Shahar

2013-04-09T12:57:00.003-07:00

An adorable book about self-esteem

This is second book of Inbar Shahar's I've read to my children and they both enjoyed it, well my daughter more. She love Fluffy the cat and that the cat tells Rona. I think Shahar is really good at getting to see the power that they have to control their own anxieties and take on situations with different kinds of people. If I understand the point of this book, it's to help children deal with people who may have a different character, who may be a bit pushy or rude, but to never let that affect your own self-esteem.

Either way, my daughter loved the book, and my son kinda liked it too. Highly recommended among the children's books available for download.

LINK: Bedtime Stories: Sweet Dream (Healthy children's books collection) by Inbar Shahar

Vinyl Record Art - A Vinyl Record Dance Floor

2013-04-09T12:30:00.003-07:00

Is it just that I'm a lousy dancer, or would you be constantly tripping yourself up on the edges of the records too? And how do you clean this after?

Book Review - 100 Natural Beauty Tips That Will Make You Beautiful Forever by Bella Sparelli

2013-04-09T12:09:00.001-07:00

A very good beauty book with lots of helpful lists

I found the book very helpful in a number of way. First, in face mapping and eyebrow shaping it hightlighted some things I was doing wrong and gave some good advice I hadn't thought of. I also found the information on Rosacea and aging which applied to me.

The book definitely has a lot more detail than Kindle books, more than a mile wide and an inch deep. There are lots of checklists, and a lot of it is stuff I already do, but I think every woman will find something in here that they can add to their own lists.

This is a very thorough book on skin care and make up that is perfect for the Kindle so you can keep it in front of you in the morning when you're traveling.

LINK: 100 Natural Beauty Tips That Will Make You Beautiful Forever by Bella Sparelli

WHATEVER HAPPENED TO.... DAVE Super rare UK private press psych LP

2013-04-09T11:33:00.001-07:00

This was a find for me, an unknown late 80s private press recording. Only 50 copies made.

Book Review - The Specials (Episode 1) - A Young Adult Serialized Science Fiction Thriller - (The Specials Season 1)

2013-04-07T17:12:00.001-07:00

Book Review - The Specials (Episode 1) - A Young Adult Serialized Science Fiction Thriller - (The Specials Season 1)

I read a lot of young adult fiction, and this serial was a total pleasure to read! Action from page one. The characters all have a special talent and together they can save the world. No small task, right. A really fast and fun read. As soon as I finished episode 1 I bought episode 2. I'm dying to find out what Chris's Special power is. I recommend this book to anyone who likes fast paced thrillers where young people do heroic things. A good read!

Link: Book Review - The Specials (Episode 1) - A Young Adult Serialized Science Fiction Thriller - (The Specials Season 1)