WRITING VIVID DIALOGUE: PROFESSIONAL TECHNIQUES FOR FICTION AUTHORS by @RayneHall #SundayBlogShare

Writing Vivid Dialogue: Professional Techniques for Fiction Authors by Rayne Hall
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Writing Vivid Dialogue: Professional techniques for Fiction Authors. This book aims to offer a toolbox of techniques for authors to cherry pick to enable their characters to carry the plot forward and entertain their readers. Rayne suggests that this book could also be used as an advance dialogue writing course and I agree with this statement.

Set out in easy to use chapters, the book covers a huge range of ideas; building tension, working with contractions, making dialogue tight, body language and one with a word I love “Zingers”.

Some of my favourite chapters were the ones about dialogue tags, dialogue beats and how people talk in Historical fiction.

I always find much I can use in Rayne’s books, they deliver advice which you can start using today and are great value for money. Real recommended reading for authors.

Find a copy here from Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com

View all my reviews on Goodreads

Want to buy these books as a bundle? Some of my readers have expressed an interest so here are some links to bundles of Rayne’s book

My own Amazon account is also offering me my own bundle of the remaining books I do not own, so do search for the bundle in your own account as see what you get.

Amazon.co.uk pack 1

Amazon.co.uk – pack 2

or Amazon.com – Pack 1

Amazon.com – pack 2

EUPHONICS FOR WRITERS: PROFESSIONAL TECHNIQUES FOR FICTION WRITERS by @RayneHall #Bookreview

Euphonics For Writers: Professional Techniques for Fiction Authors by Rayne Hall
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Another winning book from Rayne Hall’s Writer’s Craft series. As Rayne explains this book is about learning how to touch your reader’s subconscious with subtle tricks. There are sounds which effect our psyche and choosing which words you write can influence how a reader feels. This can then enhance the reading experience and may lead to a positive review of your book.

Set in two parts, part 1 deals with the different feelings and sounds letters of the alphabet make to our subconscious. For instance words with “m” are warm and motherly and make us feel cosy, roll these words over in your head; Mother, warm, comfy, welcome, how did they make you feel?

Part 2 deals with sound placement and writing rhythm. Rayne discussed alliteration, consonance & assonance, sentence lengths, starter words, the use of repetition of words, asyndeton & polysyndeton (how to make a piece of writing fast or slow paced)

Even though I am not writing a book at the moment, I am excited to try out some of these techniques in simple everyday pieces I write.

Learn how to touch your readers’ subconscious with subtle tricks.

Certain sounds have certain effects on the psyche. By using words which include those sounds, you influence how the reader feels.

Euphonic techniques are popular in poetry, but seldom used in prose. This guide shows how you can apply them to make your prose fiction sparkle.

For the purpose of this book, I define euphonics as the use of sound devices for prose writing. Poets, musicians and special effects engineers have their own definitions.

I’ll show you which sounds to apply to manipulate your reader’s psyche the way you want. You’ll learn how to impress your readers with power, how make their hearts race with urgency, how to creep them out and how let them linger in a sensual scene.

Part 1 is a thesaurus of sound effects where you can look up the best sounds to enhance the mood of your scene.

In Part 2, you’ll learn how and when to apply the sounds and how to combine them with rhythm for best effect.

This book isn’t meant as a definitive scholarly tome for academics. but a practical kit for working authors who want to refine their voice. I’ll avoid literary theory and grammatical jargon. Instead, I’ll give you useful tools.

Novice writers can have inspiring fun playing with euphonics. In the hands of skilled writers – for whom this guide is intended – euphonics are power tools.

Euphonics can’t replace basic fiction crafting skills, but they can add impact and polish to a well-written piece.

In print, the effects are very subtle, serving only to enhance what’s already there, and need to be combined with other techniques. But if you plan to perform author readings or release an audiobook, the euphonics will hold listeners enthralled with poetic power.

I’m writing in British English. Some spellings, grammatical rules and word choices differ from American English, but the euphonic effects are the same.

Now open your manuscript draft to give it that special polish.

Find a copy here from Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com

View all my reviews on Goodreads

GETTING BOOK REVIEWS by @RayneHall #WriterTips #SundayBlogShare

Getting Book Reviews: Easy, Ethical Strategies for Authors by Rayne Hall
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Getting Book Reviews is a book most suitable for Indie writers although there are some tips for published writers too. Rayne reminds the reader that reviews help sell books and with more people using online book shops for their purchases it is very noticeable that readers are drawn to the books with many reviews. She explains that this is a basic psychological buying factor, people are attracted to what others have and they too want to share the experience.

There then follows easy to read chapters with proven achievable strategies about how to get reviews. These include simple ideas like a polite paragraph at the end of your book asking readers to write a review, using your fans and followers, and asking your beta readers to write a review.

There are also chapters on the muddier waters of review swaps, review circles and paying for reviews. My favourite chapters were the “Approaching a book blogger”, as a book blogger I appreciate an author who is considerate and takes an interest in my blog and stays interested after my review. My other pick would be the “Ways to send a book to reviewers” I am astonished by the number of authors who approach me for a review with only a PDF or Word Document of their story.

I enjoys Rayne’s writer’s craft books because of their simple easy to use advice and common sense and I often recommend them to authors when I feel the advice they offer will be of help.

Reviews help sell books.
When browsing online for their next read, most readers are drawn to the books with many reviews. More and more readers glance at what other readers have to say about a book before they hit the ‘buy now’ button. The more people have read and liked the book, the more they want to experience it for themselves. This is a known psychological factor called ‘social evidence’, and it plays a big role in purchasing decisions.
The more reviews your book has, the better, especially if they are genuine, personal, thoughtful and positive. Reviews can multiply your sales and catapult your book to the top of bestseller lists – but how do you get them?
Perhaps you’re a new author and can’t get those crucial early reviews to start the train rolling. Maybe you’re a seasoned author and your books have garnered reviews, but not as many as you need to break out. Or perhaps you’ve gone the corporate publishing route, and find that your publisher’s publicist isn’t getting your book the attention it needs.
This book shows you many proven strategies to get the reviews your book deserves. Instead of urging you to labour through tedious, spirit-draining procedures, I’ll reveal quick, fun, empowering tricks.
All my suggestions are legitimate and ethical. In this book you won’t find methods for manipulating, faking and cheating. Strengthen your readers’ bond with you, don’t sabotage it.
Most of the methods I suggest are free, although some incur expenses. You will definitely need to spend time. You can apply them all these techniques, or cherry-pick the ones you like now and keep the rest for another time or a different book.
At the end of most chapters, I’m sharing mistakes I made and learnt from. They all seemed a good idea at the time.

Find a copy here from Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com

View all my reviews on Goodreads

Wednesday Wing….Writer’s Craft series by @RayneHall #wwwblogs #WritersTips

Welcome to my new feature called Wednesday Wing where I’ll be passing on

observations, tips and information to readers I’ve made a note of.

Today I’m passing on a tip about Rayne Hall’s writer’s craft series of books.

During my time of reviewing I have suggested to many authors that I believe their writing would benefit from the advice Rayne gives in her low priced easy to read writers craft series.

I have read The Word Loss Diet which is a full of useful tips on ways to slim-line your writing, cut down your descriptions and remove watery weak words. It’s a fabulous way to polish your manuscript before publishing or if you’ve had reviews which suggest the writing needed tightening. No one wants to be labelled as a novice writer.

Published your book, but it’s not selling? Why Does My Book not Sell? Written for the Indie writer, but with tips for anyone who does any of the marketing of their books. Rayne has a list of 20 reasons your book may not be getting the sales you’d like and offers quick fixes.

Are you burnt out using Twitter to sell your book? Twitter for Writers offers tips and advice on the best ways to get the most from Twitter as an author, going from the basics of setting up an account with a twitter name that is easy for readers to find to hosting a Twitter party.

Rayne has also written books which help you write particular scenes.

Writing Fighting Scenes

Writing About Villains

Writing Scary Scenes

Writing Dark Scenes

Writing Short Stories

Writing About Magic

Find Rayne’s books on Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com

A bit about Rayne.

Rayne Hall writes fantasy and horror fiction, some of it quirky, most of it dark. She is the author of over sixty books in different genres and under different pen names, published by twelve publishers in six countries, translated into several languages. Her short stories have been published in magazines, e-zines and anthologies.

After living in Germany, China, Mongolia and Nepal, she has settled in a small Victorian seaside town in southern England. Rayne holds a college degree in publishing management and a masters degree in creative writing. Over three decades, she has worked in the publishing industry as a trainee, investigative journalist, feature writer, magazine editor, production editor, page designer, concept editor for non-fiction book series, anthology editor, editorial consultant and more. Outside publishing, she worked as a museum guide, apple picker, tarot reader, adult education teacher, trade fair hostess, translator and belly dancer.

Currently, Rayne Hall writes fantasy and horror fiction and tries to regain the rights to her out-of-print books so she can republish them as e-books.

Her books on the writing craft (Writing Fight Scenes, Writing Scary Scenes, The Word-Loss Diet, Writing Dark Stories, Writing About Villains, Writing Short Stories to Promote Your Novel, Writing About Magic, Twitter for Writers) are bestsellers.

Find Rayne on Twitter @RayneHall where she’s doing something right with 68k followers.

The Word-Loss Diet by Rayne Hall

The Word-Loss Diet by Rayne Hall

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

So you’ve written a book and you are either ready to self-publish or you’re thinking about sending it off to publishers. This book could just save you from rejections letters, save you from poor reviews and save you from floundering amongst the billions of mediocre books on the market.

Rayne offers to help you strip layers of “fat” from your writing and expose your unique author voice. She uses easy step by step instructions with examples of “Obese” writing and alternative “Slim” possibilities.

Editors will spot a novice writer a mile off. Rayne gives a list of common words all first time writers innocently use and shows you how to remove over-used words that water your writing, create barriers with the reader and how you can tighten your plot.

At just a few £’s/$’s this is a good investment for authors entering a market place which is reaching saturation point. Another good book from the Writer’s Craft series.

Find a copy here from Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com

View all my reviews on Goodreads

Tighten and tone your writing style, and use simple revision tricks to slim down your manuscript. Shed thousands of words without changing the plot.

Strip away the word fat and reveal the muscle of your unique author voice.

This book is short, but potent.

It is perfect for
– self-editing before you submit your book to agents and publishers, or before self-publishing
– understanding why your stories get rejected, or why so few readers buy your book after downloading the sample chapters
– taking your writing craft skills to the next level
– polishing your writing style for the move from amateur to professional

The book is based on Rayne Hall’s popular class of the same title which has helped many writers shed word weight and develop a leaner, stronger writing style. Some authors say the class was the best investment they ever made. Now you can study the techniques in book form at your own pace.

Why Does My Book Not Sell? By Rayne Hall

Why Does My Book Not Sell? 20 Simple Fixes by Rayne Hall My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This book is most suitable for published Indie writers, people who are out there trying all they can to sell the books they have worked so hard to write. People who want to boost their marketing ideas and inject a fresh approach to connecting to their readers who are overloaded with choice.

Rayne’s book is split into 20 chapters which talk about the blocks that hinder your book sales. They range from your book cover, the book blurb, your promotions and the way you meet your readers. Is your current marketing plan intrusive or permissive?

What do readers find if they read the free first 10% of your book? Do they get straight into the story or do they find pages of off-putting dedications, thank-you messages and other people’s reviews?

Is your Twitter feed filled with tweets which say “Buy my Book” or “Must-read”, empty tweets which get passed over? Instead you need to learn to engage with your readers and show them you are human too.

Rayne writes down to earth no-nonsense writer’s craft books from her own experience and she happily admits her own mistakes along the way. Well worth a few pounds spent and a little time reading.

 

Does your book sell as well as it deserves?

If it doesn’t, one of twenty blocks may hinder its sales—blocks you can easily remove once you’re aware of them. Sell more books!

Many authors who’ve used this guide for a few weeks already report a significant increase in sales.

Each chapter reveals one area where indie authors are sabotaging their books’ success, and shows how you can free yourself from that trap. Whether you want to sell 100,000 copies or would be happy with just 100, this guide helps you raise your book above the hundreds of thousands of titles competing for attention. All strategies are proven and ethical – no cheating, no aggressive methods, no hype.

Rayne Hall is the author of over 60 books published under several pen names, in several genres, in several languages, by several publishers … and all the recent ones are indie-published. As a trained publisher with thirty years experience, she knows the business. In this book she reveals the strategies that worked for her, and the mistakes she made and learnt from along the way.

Find a copy here from Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com

View all my reviews on Goodreads

Good Deeds Challenge Year 2 Week 23

Welcome to my second Year of Good Deeds, a challenge I set myself during April 2013. I decided to do at least one Good Deed a day for a whole year, now I an into my second year.

During my week I’ll also being updating you on My Kindness Challenge which I’m also doing. I read about a new challenge to make the world a better place to live in. “Speak Kind Words, Receive Kind Echoes” see the inspiration on  The Kindness blog . During my learning process I’m donating money to charity for my slip-ups to make me work harder to achieve results. I earn no money from any of my book reviews, so having little to spare should focus my mind.

September 21st – Today my son and my Dad share a birthday. It made my Dad’s day when my tiny baby hung on for a few minutes longer and then rushed out to share his day with his Granddad. Funnily though my Dad always reckoned he’d play second best from then on, and try as I might, it’s always a last minute rush to either buy or deliver my Dad’s birthday gift while all the time I’m really organised with my son’s gifts. We are off out to tea with the other Granny and Uncle. Will take around a book I have just finished reading. We That Are Left by Juliet Greenwood, a fantastic book written around WWI and the strength of the women who were left to survive in England while the men went off to war.

September 22nd – Have got together with a couple of my girl friends to keep us all positive and to stop us all worrying ourselves to death about our kids and the future (Think 3 women heading towards the menopause) The Hormones go berserk and we find ourselves freaking out about all sorts of strange things. So we’ve got together for a little girl power and I’m shouting the loudest about having treats and “me time” and being busy with other things. So this week I’ve challenge us all to find out how to cook a dish of “pulled Pork” and to go out and get the ingredients and try out a recipe.

Last night I read “Baby Girl, Book 1 : The Beginning by Elle Klass. At just 38 pages I soon had it read and will write up the review in a few moments. My next book will be Going Pecans by Gina Henning

September 23rd – Having a chat with BrookCottage Books about helping out with some chicklit book reviews. Checking proofs for the October editions of the local magazines I write book reviews for. My copy and pasting skills were appalling this month and I have apologised to the editor about my mistakes which need changing in the proof.

September 24th – Organised a couple of my book review team to help out with reviews for the BrookCottage team. Make that 6 of my team, thanks for volunteering everyone. Blogging friend Diane Coto has been helping point me in the right direction towards some new to me authors for the mystery book tour.

In my endeavour to try out something new in my life, I got all the ingredients together for pulled pork. Found a recipe and away I went, well those who know me better, know I tend to wing a recipe when I don’t actually want to use all the list of recommended ingredients, so keen to get on, I forgot how long it would take to defrost my joint of pork. Then found it was larger that the recipe recommended. Marinaded  it for 30 minutes, covered in foil and bunged it in the oven at 2.30pm. Recipe said a slow cook for upto 5 hours. At 7pm it was still raw in the middle, at 9pm it was nearly cooked but no where near the pulled look. At 10.30 I went to bed, switched off the oven leaving the pork in the heat.

September 25th -Pulled pork continued: Got up at 6am, the oven and pork were still just warm and my pork was just about pulled. Not sure it’s the runaway success I planned. Will serve it up for tea tonight and see what the family think.

Just had a lovely book morning chatting over a coffee with fellow writer Alison Williams. Can’t go anywhere without recommending a book these days and added a few more to Alison’s TBR pile. Good Deeds received, drinks were on Alison, thank you.

September 26th – Went to the local market and bought homemade jams as a gift for my husband’s aunt. Been really busy on the blog writing up lots of post drafts. Reading Romancing My Love by Melissa Foster

September 27th – Helped a man at the Supermarket this morning.

Have bought a copy of “Why Does My Book Not Sell?” by Rayne Hall, I’m sure it will be as good as her last one “Twitter for Writers” which I keep recommending to people. I shall be reading and reviewing it in due course.

Today I’m reading Seaside Dreams by Melissa Foster.

Guest Author Rayne Hall

Today Rayne Hall joins us on the blog to inspire you to get the most out of your Twitter platform. Yesterday I posted my review of Rayne’s book “Twitter for Writers”. Here is a link if you missed it. http://wp.me/p2Eu3u-5vM

Let’s read Rayne’s advice.

TWELVE TWITTER TIPS FOR WRITERS

by Rayne Hall

 

1. Aim to attract readers, not customers. Blatant promotions such as “Have you read my wonderful novel [Insert Title] yet? Buy it here [Insert URL] bore and annoy. Instead, entertain your followers. If they enjoy reading your tweets, they’ll become interested in reading your books. Choose topics of interest to your potential readers. If you write Paranormal Romance, tweet about shapeshifter lore. If you write historical fiction, tweet little-known facts about life in your chosen period. Writing interesting posts in 140 characters or less is a challenge, but you can do it – you’re a writer!

 

2. Use your pen name as both your ‘Full Name’ and your ‘User Name’, so the people who read your tweets will recognise the name when they see your book.

 

3. Follow people who are interested in your genre. Many of them will follow you back, which gives you the chance to woo them with entertaining tweets. They are your potential readers. To find people who like your genre, search profiles for keywords such as ‘horror’ or ‘romance’.

 

4. How many followers you have matters little. What counts is their quality. Many accounts are automated and don’t read tweets; many others are fakes created by the thousands and sold by scammers (“Buy 30,000 followers for only $29!!!”). Having many followers is useless unless they are real people who really read your tweets at least sometimes.

 

5. Stay away from ‘automating’ your Twitter account. The sellers of such services promise this will save you time – but in practice, it drives your genuine followers away. When they see that you’re faking it, they won’t bother to read your tweets, and they certainly won’t go and buy your book. Don’t auto-greet, auto-thank, auto-tweet, auto-retweet, auto-favourite or auto-anything. Stay real.

 

6. Engage with others as much as you can. Interaction gains more attention than one-way tweeting.

Read your followers’ tweets and respond to some of them. Ask questions, voice opinions, share information.

 

7. From time to time, retweet tweets by other writers – but choose carefully and don’t overdo it. Don’t deluge your loyal followers with other people’s promotional tweets.

 

8. To connect with other writers, search for tweets with the hashtag ‘#amwriting’. You can also share your own writing progress, adding ‘#amwriting’ so other writers will find you.

 

9. Search for the hashtag ‘#writetip’. Experienced authors use it to give tweet-length writing advice.

 

10. When you tweet about your book, include an URL to the book’s product page on major bookselling website. To reach Amazon customers worldwide (Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.ca etc) use a universal Amazon link that opens in the viewer’s regional Amazon. Try Booklinker.net. The service is free.

11. At the end of your book, invite readers to contact with you on Twitter. Many will do this, because it’s a quick way to tell the author how much you enjoyed the book. Retweet and favourite such tweets, and ask your fans about their reading experience: Who was their favourite character? Did they buy the book immediately, or did they read the sample pages first? What do they think of the ending? Such questions show the readers that you value their opinions, and they give you valuable insights into your audience.

12. Be helpful. Often, it takes just a few seconds to share a useful link, answer someone’s question, give a useful tip. Helping others creates good karma for you and makes Twitter a pleasant place for everyone.

I hope you find these tips helpful. If you tweet me (@RayneHall) that you’re a writer and have read this post, I’ll probably follow you back.

Any questions? Just leave a comment and ask, and I’ll reply.

Rayne Hall has published more than fifty books in several languages under several pen names with several publishers in several genres, mostly fantasy, horror and non-fiction. She is the author of the bestselling Writer’s Craft series and editor of the Ten Tales anthologies.

Having lived in Germany, China, Mongolia and Nepal, she has now settled in a small dilapidated town of former Victorian grandeur on the south coast of England where she enjoys reading, gardening and long walks along the seashore. She shares her home with a black cat adopted from the cat sanctuary. His name is Sulu and he’s the perfect cat for a writer – except when he claims ownership of her keyboard.

You can follow here on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/RayneHallAuthor and Twitter http://twitter.com/RayneHall where she posts advice for writers, funny cartoons and cute pictures of her cat.

Find a copy of Twitter for Authors here from Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com

Thank you so much for being our guest today, I hope you have inspired all us authors to be more focused on Twitter.

 

 

 

 

 

Twitter for Writers by Rayne Hall

Twitter for Writers by Rayne Hall

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Twitter: Love it? Hate it? Don’t know how to get the best from it? I thought I was doing ok until I opened this treasure trove of a book. It doesn’t matter if you are completely clueless or an advanced user, there is something for all authors in the book.

Rayne discusses your Twitter platform and talks about increasing your followers by engaging with them and attracting them with your content. She tells you how to make those brilliant images that some people tweet and how to let others to eavesdrop on a conversation and thus gain their attention.

There is advice on lists and how to use them to filter much of the tweets that no one wants to read. Plus there is advice on really using Twitter to add content to your marketing. Perhaps you could hold a Twitter party or a contest, Rayne tells you how she achieved her success and she tells you what not to do.

I’ve been putting into practise some of the ideas already and I was really pleased when I spotted a piece about fake followers who want a free book and who are likely to then sell that book on e-bay, Amazon or worse, I just knew that my suspicions about a contact were correct.

This book definitely gets 5*s.

Find a copy here from Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com

View all my reviews on Goodreads

Rayne  will be our guest tomorrow with some tips on using Twitter better. Meanwhile check out @RayneHall for yourself.

Good Deeds Challenge – Year 2, Week 13

Welcome to my second Year of Good Deeds, a challenge I set myself during April 2013. I decided to do at least one Good Deed a day for a whole year, now I an into my second year.

During my week I’ll also being updating you on My Kindness Challenge which I’m also doing. I read about a new challenge to make the world a better place to live in. “Speak Kind Words, Receive Kind Echoes” see the inspiration on  The Kindness blog . During my learning process I’m donating money to charity for my slip-ups to make me work harder to achieve results. I earn no money from any of my book reviews, so having little to spare should focus my mind.

This week I’ve been doing the following;

July 13th – Cricket season for the colts is heading to a dizzy end in a couple of weeks, but before then we have a lot of matches to get through. Today we were at a cup final with a nail biting end and our team sadly lost by 10 runs. Had time to pick up rubbish and replace used toilet rolls with new ones even though I was from the visiting team. I was asked by one of the readers if I had a photo of the village cricket green that sounds so typically English, where the boys play their home matches. Our own photo’s don’t do it justice but I’ve found a couple of links to images which may give you a feel. Cricket Green Cottages around the green Cottages surround the green and drivers park cars at their own risk, regularly getting hit by balls.

July 14th – My penultimate morning helping out at school for this school year. Just one more week and all the children I have been helping this year will be moving on to the next class.

July 15th – I’ve been feeling stressed and rushed and anticipating a problem. STOP I shout that is when it will all go wrong. I need to take a moment to breath and in that moment I’ve been led once again to a beautiful website which you must all visit even if you know about it. Zenhabits by Leo Babauta Now appreciate the moment and what you have and let’s all take a better step on in life.

I’m working with Rayne Hall to bring you a post about using Twitter as an author. I shall be reading a reviewing Rayne’s book Twitter for Writers for you all shortly. No groaning this can only be good for all you authors.

July 16th – A big day drafting up lots of book review posts for you all. Checked the proofs for the August issues of my book reviews pages in Fleet Life and Elvetham Heath Directory. Took on 2 more books for review, I really need to crack on with my reading. Was literally dragged away from the computer to go to a cricket match.

July 17th – Have just finished Rayne Hall’s book Twitter for Writers and cannot recommend it enough. It’s helped me spot a fake book reviewer who was most likely going to try to sell any book on e-bay or Amazon or worse that may have gone their way. I did have some nagging doubts, my kindness nearly got me into trouble, however I will be doing a bigger Good Deed by not sending this person any books.

July 18th – Left a big tip for my hairdresser who did wonders to my mop of hair. Agreed to read and review another book for an author. Working on the draft for The Romancing September Across the Word Tour. Hopefully we will be launching the tour in the next few days and looking for Romance authors who want to promote their book in September.

July 19th – My Mum came over this afternoon and I helped her with some paperwork and computer advice. She brought a “bug house” for our garden, a home for solitary bees and garden insects, which my Dad had made, plus a pot of this season’s honey. Drafted up a couple of fantastic book reviews from the book review challenge and Rosie’s Book Review Team.